Trends in Earnings Loss from Disabling Workplace Injuries in California The Role of Economic Conditions

by Reville, Robert T.; Schoeni, Robert F.; Martin, Craig W.

• ISBN13: 9780833030801
• ISBN10: 0833030809
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-03-04
• Publisher: RAND Corporation

Summary

Can the downward trend in earnings losses experienced by injured workers in California during the 1990s be traced to the state's improved economic conditions? The latest in a series of RAND reports on workers' compensation confirms that, despite some improvements in the mid-1990s, benefits in the state were still inadequate.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Figures	xi
Tables	xiii
Summary	xv
Acknowledgments	xix
Acronyms	xxi
Introduction	1	(2)
Changes in Economic Conditions and Public Policy over the 1990s	3	(4)
Economic Conditions	3	(1)
Workers' Compensation Reform	4	(2)
Americans with Disabilities Act	6	(1)
Defining Wage Loss and Replacement Rates	7	(2)
Wage Loss and Replacement Rates over the 1990s	9	(14)
Improvements Are Not Explained by Changes in the Composition of Claims	13	(7)
Severity of Injury	14	(1)
Firm Size	15	(1)
County of Employment	16	(1)
Claim-Closing Level	17	(3)
Economic Conditions Explain Only Some of the Improvements	20	(3)
Time-Series Evidence	20	(1)
Cross-County Evidence	20	(3)
Accounting for Confounding Factors by Using a Statistical Model	23	(8)
The Modeling Approach	24	(2)
Results	26	(5)
Predicting Losses for Workers Injured in More-Recent Years	31	(8)
Conclusions	39	(2)
Appendix Data Sources and Analysis Samples	41	(4)
References	45