TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Hernaes, Øystein
        TI  - Activation against Absenteeism: Evidence from a Sickness Insurance Reform in Norway
        PY  - 2017/Sep/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 10991
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp10991
        AB  - I evaluate a program aimed at strictly enforcing a requirement that people on long-term sick leave be partly back at work unless explicitly defined as an exception. Employing the synthetic control method, I find that the reform reduced work-hours lost due to absenteeism by 12 % in the reform region compared to a comparison unit created by a weighted average of similar regions. The effect is driven by both increased part-time presence of temporary disabled workers and accelerated recovery. Musculoskeletal disorders was the diagnosis group declining the most. The findings imply large savings in social security expenditures. 
        KW  - activation
KW  - disability
KW  - absenteeism
KW  - forkfare
        ER  -