TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Humer, Brigitte
AU  - Wuellrich, Jean-Philippe
AU  - Zweimüller, Josef
        TI  - Integrating Severely Disabled Individuals into the Labour Market: The Austrian Case
        PY  - 2007/Feb/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 2649
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp2649
        AB  - We study the impact of the Austrian Employment Act for the Disabled which grants extended employment protection, requires a hiring quota for firms, and subsidizes the employment of severely disabled (SD) workers. Using a large sample of eligible individuals we compare workers before and after acquiring legal SD-status. Unsurprisingly, we find that holding SD-status is associated with lower employment and earnings. However, workers holding a job when acquiring legal SD-status have substantially better subsequent employment prospects after SD-award than before. In contrast, workers who do not hold a job at the date of SD-entry do dramatically worse after SD-award than before. This suggests that employment protection legislation places substantial firing costs on firms and has a major impact on the decisions of firms to hire disabled workers.
        KW  - disability
KW  - employment protection
        ER  -