Publications of the RAND Center for Disability Research

2012

Does Disability Insurance Receipt Discourage Work? Using Examiner Assignment to Estimate Causal Effects of SSDI Receipt — 2012

Presents the first estimates of the causal effects of Social Security Disability Insurance receipt on labor supply estimated using the entire population of program applicants.

2010

Research Designs for Estimating Induced Entry into the SSDI Program Resulting from a Benefit Offset — 2010

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) provides income replacement to individuals who are largely unable to work because of a long-lasting health condition. SSDI participants who earn above a substantial gainful activity (SGA) threshold have their benefits suspended, following a Trial Work Period. A proposed "benefit offset" would instead reduce SSDI benefits by $1 for every $2 earned above the SGA threshold. This report describes two approaches to estimating the induced entry effects of the proposed policy.

2009

Work Disability, Work, and Justification Bias in Europe and the U.S. — 2009

Uses anchoring vignettes to identify justification bias and other forms of differential item functioning across countries and socio-economic groups among older workers in the U.S. and Europe.

Dynamics of Work Disability and Pain — 2008

Investigates the role of pain dynamics in dynamics of self-reported work disability and of employment patterns of older workers in the United States. In addition to high pain prevalence, there are many transitions in and out of pain at these ages.

Vignettes and Self-Reports of Work Disability in the United States and the Netherlands — 2007

In contrast to the believed similarity in their health outcomes, workers in different Western countries report very different rates of work disability. Using new data from the United States and the Netherlands, we offer a partial resolution to this paradox. We find that observed differences in reported work disability largely stem from the fact that Dutch respondents have a lower threshold in reporting whether they have a work disability than American respondents. For those who do not suffer from pain, work disability is similar in both countries once thresholds are the same. For respondents with pain, however, a significant difference remains.

Self Reported Disability and Reference Groups — 2007

Examines the role of social influences on people's perception of their worklimitations.

Dynamics of Work Disability and Pain — 2006

Investigates how pain affects the self-reported work disability and employment of elderly workers in the United States.

Work Disability is a Pain in the *****, Especially in England, The Netherlands, and the United States — 2005

This paper investigates the role of pain in determining self-reported work disability in the U.S., the U.K. and The Netherlands.

Self-reported Work Disability in the US and The Netherlands — 2004

Self-reported work disability is analyzed in the US and The Netherlands.

International Comparisons of Work Disability — 2004

Self-reported work disability is analyzed in the US, the UK and the Netherlands.