IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iab/iabdpa/202022.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Dismissal Protection and Long-term Sickness Absence - First Evidence from Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Gürtzgen, Nicole

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany ; Univ. Regensburg ; ZEW)

  • Hiesinger, Karolin

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany)

Abstract

"This paper analyses the causal effects of weaker dismissal protection on the incidence of long-term sickness (> six weeks). We exploit a German policy change, which shifted the threshold exempting small establishments from dismissal protection from five to ten workers. Using administrative data, we find a significantly negative reform effect on transitions into long-term sickness in the second year after a worker has entered an establishment. This response is due to a behavioural, rather than a compositional effect and is mainly driven by less skilled workers. Our results further indicate that the reform did not alter the probability of involuntary unemployment after sickness." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Gürtzgen, Nicole & Hiesinger, Karolin, 2020. "Dismissal Protection and Long-term Sickness Absence - First Evidence from Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 202022, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doku.iab.de/discussionpapers/2020/dp2220.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip de Jong & Maarten Lindeboom & Bas van der Klaauw, 2011. "Screening Disability Insurance Applications," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 106-129, February.
    2. Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2010. "Shirking and employment protection legislation: Evidence from a natural experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 276-280, May.
    3. Thomas K. Bauer & Stefan Bender & Holger Bonin, 2007. "Dismissal Protection and Worker Flows in Small Establishments," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(296), pages 804-821, November.
    4. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias, 2009. "Alternative Approaches to Evaluation in Empirical Microeconomics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    5. Ashenfelter, Orley C, 1978. "Estimating the Effect of Training Programs on Earnings," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(1), pages 47-57, February.
    6. Stefan Bauernschuster, 2013. "Dismissal protection and small firms’ hirings: evidence from a policy reform," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 293-307, February.
    7. Lindbeck, Assar & Palme, Mårten & Persson, Mats, 2006. "Job Security and Work Absence: Evidence form a Natural Experiment," Seminar Papers 743, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    8. Ziebarth, Nicolas R. & Karlsson, Martin, 2010. "A natural experiment on sick pay cuts, sickness absence, and labor costs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 1108-1122, December.
    9. Vincenzo Scoppa & Daniela Vuri, 2014. "Absenteeism, unemployment and employment protection legislation: evidence from Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Simen Markussen, 2012. "The individual cost of sick leave," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(4), pages 1287-1306, October.
    11. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    12. Nicolas R. Ziebarth & Martin Karlsson, 2014. "The Effects Of Expanding The Generosity Of The Statutory Sickness Insurance System," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 208-230, March.
    13. 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.
    14. Hansen, Claus D. & Andersen, Johan H., 2008. "Going ill to work - What personal circumstances, attitudes and work-related factors are associated with sickness presenteeism?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 956-964, September.
    15. Lee, Sokbae & Wilke, Ralf A., 2009. "Reform of Unemployment Compensation in Germany: A Nonparametric Bounds Analysis Using Register Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27(2), pages 193-205.
    16. Monojit Chatterji & Colin J. Tilley, 2002. "Sickness, absenteeism, presenteeism, and sick pay," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(4), pages 669-687, October.
    17. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2017. "The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-33.
    18. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    19. Boris HirschBy & Daniel S. J. Lechmann & Claus Schnabel, 2017. "Coming to work while sick: an economic theory of presenteeism with an application to German data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1010-1031.
    20. Kai Priesack, 2015. "Employment consequences of changes in dismissal protection: Evidence from a 2004 German reform," BDPEMS Working Papers 2015012, Berlin School of Economics.
    21. Boeri, Tito & Jimeno, Juan F., 2005. "The effects of employment protection: Learning from variable enforcement," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(8), pages 2057-2077, November.
    22. Brown, Sarah & Sessions, John G, 1996. "The Economics of Absence: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 23-53, March.
    23. Elisabeth Fevang & Simen Markussen & Knut Røed, 2014. "The Sick Pay Trap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 305-336.
    24. Arnold, Daniel Timo & de Pinto, Marco, 2015. "Sickness absence, presenteeism and work-related characteristics," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113118, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    25. Hesselius, Patrik, 2007. "Does sickness absence increase the risk of unemployment?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 288-310, April.
    26. S Brown & J G Sessions, 2004. "Absenteeism, Presenteeism, and Shirking," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 9(1), pages 15-23, March.
    27. Daniel Arnold & Marco de Pinto, 2015. "How are Work-related Characteristics Linked to Sickness Absence and Presenteeism? - Theory and Data -," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201511, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    28. Daniel Arnold & Marco de Pinto, 2015. "How are Work-related Characteristics Linked to Sickness Absence and Presenteeism? Theory and Data," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 135(4), pages 465-498.
    29. Olsson, Martin, 2009. "Employment protection and sickness absence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 208-214, April.
    30. Puhani, Patrick A. & Sonderhof, Katja, 2010. "The effects of a sick pay reform on absence and on health-related outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 285-302, March.
    31. Daniel Arnold, 2016. "Determinants of the Annual Duration of Sickness Presenteeism: Empirical Evidence from European Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 30(2), pages 198-212, June.
    32. Chadi, Adrian & Goerke, Laszlo, 2018. "Missing at work – Sickness-related absence and subsequent career events," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 153-176.
    33. Arndt R. Reichert & Boris Augurzky & Harald Tauchmann, 2015. "Self‐Perceived Job Insecurity And The Demand For Medical Rehabilitation: Does Fear Of Unemployment Reduce Health Care Utilization?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 8-25, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Hiesinger, Karolin, 2020. "Dismissal protection and long-term sickness absence: First evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-040, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2019. "Reprint of: The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 86-104.
    3. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2017. "The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-33.
    4. Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2015. "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing for Contagious Presenteeism and Shirking Behavior," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1509, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2013. "Long-term absenteeism and moral hazard—Evidence from a natural experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 277-292.
    6. Boris HirschBy & Daniel S. J. Lechmann & Claus Schnabel, 2017. "Coming to work while sick: an economic theory of presenteeism with an application to German data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1010-1031.
    7. Pichler, S,; & Ziebarth, N.R,;, 2015. "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: A Method to Test for Contagious Presenteeism and Shirking Behavior," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/03, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    8. Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2020. "Labor Market Effects of U.S. Sick Pay Mandates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(2), pages 611-659.
    9. Bubonya, Melisa & Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Wooden, Mark, 2017. "Mental health and productivity at work: Does what you do matter?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 150-165.
    10. Mark L. Bryan & Andrew M. Bryce & Jennifer Roberts, 2022. "Dysfunctional presenteeism: Effects of physical and mental health on work performance," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 90(4), pages 409-438, July.
    11. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2015. "Trade union membership and sickness absence: Evidence from a sick pay reform," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 13-25.
    12. Chadi, Adrian & Goerke, Laszlo, 2018. "Missing at work – Sickness-related absence and subsequent career events," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 153-176.
    13. Vincenzo Scoppa & Daniela Vuri, 2014. "Absenteeism, unemployment and employment protection legislation: evidence from Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-25, December.
    14. Maclean, J. Catherine & Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 13132, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Stijn Baert & Bas van der Klaauw & Gijsbert van Lomwel, 2018. "The effectiveness of medical and vocational interventions for reducing sick leave of self‐employed workers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 139-152, February.
    16. Hernæs, Øystein, 2018. "Activation against absenteeism – Evidence from a sickness insurance reform in Norway," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 60-68.
    17. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2024. "Sick leave and medical leave in the United States: A categorization and recent trends," ZEW Discussion Papers 24-011, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. Arnold, Daniel Timo & de Pinto, Marco, 2015. "Sickness absence, presenteeism and work-related characteristics," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113118, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Chadi, Adrian & Goerke, Laszlo, 2015. "Missing at Work - Sickness-related Absence and Subsequent Job Mobility," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112862, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Daniel Arnold & Marco de Pinto, 2015. "How are Work-related Characteristics Linked to Sickness Absence and Presenteeism? - Theory and Data -," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201511, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Auswirkungen ; Schwellenwert ; Dauer ; Fehlzeiten ; IAB-Betriebs-Historik-Panel ; IAB-Biografiedaten ; Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien ; Krankheit ; Kündigungsschutz ; Reformpolitik ; Risiko ; Arbeitslosigkeit ; Arbeitsverhalten ; 1999-2010;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • J88 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Public Policy
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202022. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: IAB, Geschäftsbereich Wissenschaftliche Fachinformation und Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iabbbde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.