Integrating severely disabled individuals into the labour market: the Austrian case

Arbeitspapier

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

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 2649

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: Behinderte ; Berufliche Integration ; Schwerbehindertenrecht ; Arbeitsmarktpolitik ; Wirkungsanalyse ; Personalbeschaffung ; Kosten ; Österreich

Contributors, Location and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Humer, Brigitte ; Wuellrich, Jean-Philippe ; Zweimüller, Josef
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2007

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/34034
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-20080416122
• Last update: 20.09.2024, 8:23 AM CEST