Human Capital of Disabled Workers

The goal of this project is to understand the relationship between human health and human capital—the skills and abilities that people choose to use (or not) in the labor market—as they experience onset of disabilities and as they age. A particular focus is on the role of social insurance programs and their particular incentives.

The Principal Investigator is Nicole Maestas.

If you have any questions, please contact Vanessa Azzone.

Publications

Hill MJ, Maestas N, Mullen KJ, Source of Health Insurance Coverage and Employment Survival Among Newly Disabled Workers: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2014. https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR1040.html.

Autor D, Maestas N, Mullen KJ, Strand A. Does Delay Cause Decay? The Effect of Administrative Decision Time on the Labor Force Participation and Earnings of Disability Applicants. NBER Working Paper #w20840. 2015. http://www.nber.org/papers/w20840 .

Maestas N, Mullen KJ, Strand A. Disability Insurance and the Great Recession. Am Econ Rev. 2015 May;105(5):177-182. doi: 10.1257/aer.p20151089. PMCID: PMC4545664. PubMed.

Hill MJ, Maestas N, Mullen KJ. Employer Accommodation and Labor Supply of Disabled Workers. Labour Econ. 2016 Aug;41:291-303. doi: 10.1016/j.labeco.2016.05.013. Epub 2016 May 20. PMCID: PMC5104281. PubMed.

Mullen KJ, Staubli S. Disability Benefit Generosity and Labor Force Withdrawal. J Public Econ. 2016 Nov;143:49-63. doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2016.08.007. Epub 2016 Aug 16. PMCID: PMC5312792. PubMed. Full Code.

Powell D, Seabury S. Medical Care Spending and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Workers' Compensation Reforms. Am Econ Rev. 2018 Oct;108(10):2995-3027. PMCID: PMC6166442. PubMed. Full Code.

Maestas Nicole, Mullen Kathleen J., Rennane Stephanie. Unmet Need for Workplace Accommodation. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 2019 Fall; 38(4): 1004–1027. Published online 2019 May 16. doi: 10.1002/pam.22148. PMCID: PMC6874222. PubMed.  Full Code.

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