Ricardo Pagán

Self‐employment among people with disabilities: evidence for Europe

This paper examines the use of self‐employment among people with disabilities in Europe. Using data from the European Community Household Panel for the period 1995–2001 for 13 European countries we found that people with disabilities were more likely to be self‐employed than people without disabilities. Self‐employment provides flexibility and a better adjustment between disability status and working life. Moreover, the levels of satisfaction with job, type of job and working conditions of self‐employed disabled people are higher than those reported by disabled people who are wage and salary earners. Policy‐makers must encourage self‐employment to increase the levels of well‐being and employment of people with disabilities in Europe.

Ageing and disability: Job satisfaction differentials across Europe

This article analyses the levels of job satisfaction reported by older workers (aged 50-64) with and without disabilities at a European level. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004 and 2007), we estimate job satisfaction equations for non-disabled, non-limited disabled and limited disabled workers, and decompose the observed job satisfaction gap by using the widely-used Oaxaca-Blinder methodology. The results show that after controlling for some variables, older workers with disabilities who are limited in their daily activities are less likely to be satisfied with their jobs as compared to their non-disabled counterparts. However, after estimating separate models for each group and doing the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, we found that older workers with limiting disabilities have greater returns in terms of job satisfaction from their job characteristics (such as wages, tenure and working in the private sector) as compared to non-disabled individuals. This finding supports the hypothesis of lower expectations about jobs of disadvantaged groups (e.g. limited disabled population) and has important public policy implications.

An Analysis of Educational Mismatch and Labor Mobility in the Hospitality Industry

The aims of this article are to analyze the determinants of educational mismatch and worker mobility across occupations and firms in the hospitality industry. The educational mismatch is measured comparing the workers maximum level of attained education and the educational level needed to perform his or her job. A representative survey of 3,314 employees and 302 employers in 181 hotels and 121 restaurants with 8 employees or more was utilized to this end. The econometric analyses suggest that workers can compensate for their shortfall in education with greater amounts of working experience; however, surplus education cannot substitute for tenure and on-the-job training. Likewise, educational mismatch has no impact on labor mobility. However, other factors influence internal and external turnover.

Time allocation of disabled individuals

Although some studies have analysed the disability phenomenon and its effect on, for example, labour force participation, wages, job satisfaction, or the use of disability pension, the empirical evidence on how disability steals time (e.g. hours of work) from individuals is very scarce. This article examines how disabled individuals allocate their time to daily activities as compared to their non-disabled counterparts. Using time diary information from the Spanish Time Use Survey (last quarter of 2002 and the first three quarters of 2003), we estimate the determinants of time (minutes per day) spent on four aggregate categories (market work, household production, tertiary activities and leisure) for a sample of 27,687 non-disabled and 5250 disabled individuals and decompose the observed time differential by using the Oaxaca-Blinder methodology. The results show that disabled individuals devote less time to market work (especially females), and more time to household production (e.g. cooking, cleaning, child care), tertiary activities (e.g., sleeping, personal care, medical treatment) and leisure activities. We also find a significant effect of age on the time spent on daily activities and important differences by gender and disability status. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that disability steals time, and reiterate the fact that more public policies are needed to balance working life and health concerns among disabled individuals.

The Impact of Holiday Trips on Life Satisfaction and Domains of Life Satisfaction Evidence for German Disabled Individuals

This study analyses the contribution of holiday trips to the levels of life satisfaction reported by individuals with and without disability by using an approach in which life satisfaction is seen as a combination of various life satisfaction domains (health, job, housework, household income, dwelling, and leisure). Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate a two-layer model which proposes that satisfaction with different domains of life are interrelated and wherein life satisfaction depends on the weight that the individual allocates to each of these domains. The results show that disabled people who participate in holiday trips obtain higher levels of satisfaction with health, job, and housework than do nondisabled ones, especially when this participation is more intense. In addition, satisfaction with health and household income has a significant effect on the overall life satisfaction reported by disabled individuals. Public policy recommendations are given.

WHAT MAKES WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES HAPPY? THE IMPORTANCE OF NON‐PECUNIARY CHARACTERISTICS

The paper examines the determinants of the levels of job satisfaction reported by non-disabled and disabled workers, with special attention to the contribution of non-pecuniary job aspects. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we estimate job satisfaction equations for non-disabled and disabled workers. The existence of unhealthy environments, hard manual work, capacity to learn and good relationships with colleagues and supervisors all have a greater influence on job satisfaction for disabled workers than for their non-disabled counterparts.

Is part-time work a good or bad opportunity for people with disabilities? A European analysis

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to analyse the incidence of part-time employment among people with disabilities within a European context. Particular attention is paid to the type of part-time employment (voluntary vs. involuntary) and the levels of job satisfaction that people with disabilities report. Method. Using data from the European Community Household Panel for the period 1995 – 2001, we estimate part-time rates, preferences and levels of job satisfaction for people with and without disabilities for 13 European countries. Results. The results show that a higher number of people with disabilities work part-time, compared to non-disabled workers. This is mainly due to disabled part-time workers having a much higher preference for part-time working than people without disability. This finding is corroborated when we analyse the levels of job satisfaction for disabled part-time workers. Conclusions. Part-time employment becomes a relevant instrument for policy makers and employers to improve the social inclusion, income and labour conditions of the people with disabilities because it allows these people to achieve a much better balance between their personal and health needs and working life.

Transitions to part-time work at older ages: the case of people with disabilities in Europe

This paper analyses the labour-force transitions of older workers with disabilities in general, particularly workers’ transitions to and from part-time employment within a European context. Using the two first waves (2004 and 2007) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we compare transitions between employment statuses for disabled and non-disabled individuals, even after controlling for different disability trajectories. In addition, we employ a multivariate framework to examine the determinants for remaining in part-time work in 2007 for those individuals who were part-timers in 2004. The results show that older people with long-term disabilities have a higher probability of staying in a part-time job than their compared counterparts. Policy-makers must promote part-time employment as a means of increasing employment opportunities for older workers with disabilities and support gradual retirement opportunities with flexible and reduced working hours.

Hiring Workers with Disabilities when a Quota Requirement Exists: The relevance of firm’s size

We evaluate the impact of a mandatory quota of workers with disabilities using a sharp regression discontinuity design. We use data from a panel of Spanish firms where there is a mandatory quota of 2 % for firms with 50 or more workers. Non-parametric estimations show that strictly beyond the cut-off of 50 workers there is an increase of 1.4 points in the percentage of workers with disabilities in the firm, just fulfilling the quota of 2 %. However, this effect has some lack of precision. In addition, for larger firm’s sizes the variation in the percentage of workers with disabilities is likely related with differences in firms’ characteristics. dependence and endogenous initial conditions.

Obesity, job satisfaction and disability at older ages in Europe

This study investigates the interaction between obesity and disability and its impact on the levels of job satisfaction reported by older workers (aged 50-64) in ten European countries (Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Spain). Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for the years 2004, 2007 and 2011, we estimate a job satisfaction equation which includes a set of explanatory variables measuring workers obesity and disability status (non-disabled, non-limited disabled, and limited disabled). The results show that, after controlling for other variables, obese workers are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs as compared to those workers with normal weight (0.066 points). In addition, being limited disabled or having poor health contribute to reducing (by 0.082 and 0.172 points, respectively) this positive effect of being obese on job satisfaction. However, we do not find any differential effect of obesity on job satisfaction by disability status, except for those underweight individuals who are not limited in their daily activities. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis of lower expectations about jobs for obese workers, especially if they also have poor health.