Disability policies: Reform strategies in a comparative perspective / René Böheim, Thomas Leoni.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Böheim, René.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Leoni, Thomas.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w22206.

NBER working paper series no. w22206

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Disability policies

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2016.

Summary:

We analyze different disability policy strategies using policy scores developed by the OECD for the period 1990 to 2007. Applying model-based and hierarchical agglomerative clustering, we investigate the existence of distinct country clusters, characterized by particular policy combinations. In spite of common trends in policy re-orientation, our results indicate that the reforms of the last two decades led to more, not less, heterogeneity between country groups in terms of sickness and disability policy. A set of Northern and Continental European countries emerges as a distinct cluster characterized by its particular combination of strong employment-oriented policies and comparatively high protection levels. A qualitative review of policy changes in the most recent years suggests that the gap between these countries and the rest might have further increased. We embed our empirical analysis in a theoretical framework to identify the objectives and the main components of a comprehensive disability policy strategy. The objectives of such a strategy can be subsumed under three headings, representing strategy pillars: prevention and treatment; protection and insurance; and activation and re-integration. Not all these dimensions are covered equally well by the OECD policy scores and will have to be further investigated.

Notes:

Print version record

April 2016.