Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35404 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4240
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Based on comprehensive administrative register data from Norway, we examine the determinants of sickness absence behavior; in terms of employee characteristics workplace characteristics, panel doctor characteristics, and economic conditions. The analysis is based on a novel concept of a worker's steady state sickness absence propensity, computed from a multivariate hazard rate model designed to predict the incidence and the duration of sickness absence for all workers. Key conclusions are i) that most of the cross-sectional variation in absenteeism is caused by genuine employee heterogeneity; ii) that the identity of a person's panel doctor has a significant impact on absence propensity; iii) that sickness absence insurance is frequently certified for reasons other than sickness; and iv) that the recovery rate rises enormously just prior to the exhaustion of sickness insurance benefits.
Subjects: 
Sickness absence
multivariate hazards
MMPH
NPMLE
JEL: 
C14
C41
H55
I18
J22
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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