Who goes on disability when times are tough? The role of work norms among immigrants

Delia Furtado; Kerry L. Papps; Nikolaos Theodoropoulos

doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103983

Who goes on disability when times are tough? The role of work norms among immigrants

Delia Furtado
, Kerry L. Papps
, Nikolaos Theodoropoulos

University of Connecticut
University of Cyprus

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (SciVal)

158 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We consider how work norms affect the likelihood of people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in response to worsening economic conditions. By focusing on immigrants in the US, we can examine the influence of work norms in a person’s home country, which we argue are exogenous to labor market prospects in the US. We find that the probability of receiving SSDI benefits is more sensitive to economic downturns among immigrants from countries where people place less importance on work. We also provide evidence that this result is not driven by differential labor market sensitivities to the business cycle or differences in other characteristics that might be correlated with norms.

Original language	English
Article number	103983
Number of pages	21
Journal	European Economic Review
Volume	143
Early online date	22 Nov 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103983
Publication status	Published - 30 Apr 2022

Acknowledgements

This is a significantly revised version of the paper, Who Goes on Disability when Times are Tough? The Role of Social Costs of Receipt among Immigrants. We are grateful to Eric Gould, Erzo Luttmer, Lucie Schmidt, and several careful referees as well as participants at the 2018 Michigan Retirement Research Center (MRRC) researcher workshop, the 2018 SHARE meeting in Malta, the 2nd Annual Dulbea Workshop on the Economics of Disability, the 2020 EALE-SOLE-AASLE World Conference, and seminar participants at the University of Cyprus, University of South Florida, and the University of Connecticut.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

Disability insurance
Immigrants
Social norms
Unemployment rates

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Finance
Economics and Econometrics

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10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103983

Who goes on disability when times are tough? (accepted author manuscript)Accepted author manuscript, 955 KB

Cite this

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title = "Who goes on disability when times are tough? The role of work norms among immigrants",

abstract = "We consider how work norms affect the likelihood of people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in response to worsening economic conditions. By focusing on immigrants in the US, we can examine the influence of work norms in a person{\textquoteright}s home country, which we argue are exogenous to labor market prospects in the US. We find that the probability of receiving SSDI benefits is more sensitive to economic downturns among immigrants from countries where people place less importance on work. We also provide evidence that this result is not driven by differential labor market sensitivities to the business cycle or differences in other characteristics that might be correlated with norms.",

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AB - We consider how work norms affect the likelihood of people receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) in response to worsening economic conditions. By focusing on immigrants in the US, we can examine the influence of work norms in a person’s home country, which we argue are exogenous to labor market prospects in the US. We find that the probability of receiving SSDI benefits is more sensitive to economic downturns among immigrants from countries where people place less importance on work. We also provide evidence that this result is not driven by differential labor market sensitivities to the business cycle or differences in other characteristics that might be correlated with norms.

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KW - Social norms

KW - Unemployment rates

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VL - 143

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JF - European Economic Review

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ER -

Who goes on disability when times are tough? The role of work norms among immigrants

Abstract

Acknowledgements

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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