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The impact of downsizing on remaining workers' sickness absence

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  • Østhus, Ståle
  • Mastekaasa, Arne

Abstract

It is generally assumed that organizational downsizing has considerable negative consequences, not only for workers that are laid off, but also for those who remain employed. The empirical evidence with regard to effects on sickness absence is, however, inconsistent. This study employs register data covering a major part of the total workforce in Norway over the period 2000-2003. The number of sickness absence episodes and the number of sickness absence days are analysed by means of Poisson regression. To control for both observed and unobserved stable individual characteristics, we use conditional (fixed effects) estimation. The analyses provide some weak indications that downsizing may lead to slightly less sickness absence, but the overall impression is that downsizing has few if any effects on the sickness absence of the remaining employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Østhus, Ståle & Mastekaasa, Arne, 2010. "The impact of downsizing on remaining workers' sickness absence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1455-1462, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:71:y:2010:i:8:p:1455-1462
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Morten Henningsen & Torbjørn Hægeland, 2008. "Downsizing as a sorting device. Are low-productive workers more likely to leave downsizing firms?," Discussion Papers 543, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    2. Knut Røed & Elisabeth Fevang, 2007. "Organizational Change, Absenteeism, and Welfare Dependency," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(1).
    3. Andrea Ichino & Regina T. Riphahn, 2005. "The Effect of Employment Protection on Worker Effort: Absenteeism During and After Probation," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(1), pages 120-143, March.
    4. Hausman, Jerry & Hall, Bronwyn H & Griliches, Zvi, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 909-938, July.
    5. Sarah J. Freeman & Kim S. Cameron, 1993. "Organizational Downsizing: A Convergence and Reorientation Framework," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(1), pages 10-29, February.
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    1. Sigursteinsdóttir, Hjördís & Rafnsdóttir, Gudbjörg Linda, 2015. "Sickness and sickness absence of remaining employees in a time of economic crisis: A study among employees of municipalities in Iceland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 95-102.
    2. Petri Böckerman & Mika Maliranta, 2013. "Outsourcing, Occupational Restructuring, and Employee Well-Being: Is There a Silver Lining?," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 878-914, October.
    3. Dyrstad, Karin & Halvorsen, Thomas & Hem, Karl-Gerhard & Rohde, Tarald, 2016. "Sick of waiting: Does waiting for elective treatment cause sickness absence?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(12), pages 1383-1388.
    4. Alexander Ahammer & Dominik Grübl & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2020. "The health externalities of downsizing," CDL Aging, Health, Labor working papers 2020-05, The Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory Aging, Health, and the Labor Market, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    5. Østhus, Ståle, 2012. "Health effects of downsizing survival and job loss in Norway," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 946-953.

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