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

摘要

High and rising rates of work disability are a pervasive problem in many industrialized countries (see Robert Haveman and Barbara Wolfe 2000; John Bound and Richard Burkhauser 1999). The fraction of workers reporting work disability is vastly different across countries with similar levels of economic development and comparable access to modern medical technology and treatment. Institutional differences in eligibility rules or generosity of benefits no doubt explain part of the differences in disability rolls (see Bound and Burkhauser 1999; Burkhauser and Mary Daly 2002; Thomas De-Leire 2000). Recent survey data show, however, that significant differences between countries are also found in self-reports of work-limiting disabilities. In comparing such self-reports, a basic question concerns the extent to which people living in the same or in different countries use the same response scales when they answer questions about work disability. If they use the same scales, differences in reported work disability reflect true differences across countries in disabilities affecting work. But if response scales differ systematically, adjustments must be made before conclusions about international differences in true work disability can be drawn.