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The causal effect of workload on the labour supply of older employees

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Abstract

Several policies aim to keep older workers in the labour force, but little is known about their effects. We investigate the effects of a particular programme in Norway that reduces the workload of teachers at age 55 but maintains the same wage. Evaluation of this programme is well suited to a differencein-difference analysis, where the control group is teachers slightly too young to be eligible for the workload reduction. Using full population register data for the period 2005–2013, we analyse the effects of the programme on sickness absence, contracted hours, mental health, and musculoskeletal problems. We find that the programme reduces sickness absence and mental health problems for men, but not for women, and there is no effect on contracted hours. The results are robust to a number of checks.

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  • Bratberg, Espen & Holmås, Tor Helge & Monstad, Karin, 2017. "The causal effect of workload on the labour supply of older employees," Working Papers in Economics 16/17, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:bergec:2017_016
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    workload; older workers; sickness absence; absenteeism; working hours; difference-in-difference; triple DD;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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