Designing Disability Insurance Reforms: Tightening Eligibility Rules or Reducing Benefits?

S-Tier
Journal: Econometrica
Year: 2024
Volume: 92
Issue: 1
Pages: 79-110

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper develops a sufficient statistics framework for analyzing the welfare effects of disability insurance (DI). We derive social‐optimality conditions for the two main DI policy parameters: (i) eligibility rules and (ii) benefit levels. Applying this framework to two restrictive DI reforms in Austria, we find that tighter DI eligibility rules triggered higher fiscal cost savings and lower insurance losses. Hence, tighter DI eligibility rules dominate DI benefit reductions in scaling back the Austrian DI system.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:wly:emetrp:v:92:y:2024:i:1:p:79-110
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25