Work

The Effect of Plant Downsizing on Disability Pension Utilization

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: We investigate the impact of plant downsizing on disability pension utilization in Norway. Plant downsizing substantially increases the disability entry rate of workers in affected plants. Workers originally employed in plants that downsized by more than 60% between 1995 and 2000 were 24% more likely to utilize disability pensions in 2001 than comparable workers in non-downsized plants. We also estimate significant effects of downsizing on future earnings and mortality, which suggest that the increase in disability participation could be driven by an adverse effect of downsizing on the economic opportunities or the health of affected workers.

Source: Journal of the European Economic Association

DOI: 10.1162/jeea.2009.7.4.754

Authors: Mari Rege, Kjetil Telle, Mark Votruba

Institutions: University of Stavanger, Statistics Norway, Case Western Reserve University

Language: English

Topic: Retirement, Disability, and Employment

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funder: Norges Forskningsråd