The Economics of Inclusion / EU
Policy & Incentives
Divergent Paths: Minimum Wage Increases and Workers with Disabilities
Large minimum wage increases significantly reduce employment and labour force participation for individuals with severe disabilities, raising concerns that inclusivity-framed wage policies can have unintended exclusionary effects.
L'obligation d'emploi des travailleurs handicapés en 2023
Comprehensive analysis of France's 6% quota system: 674,400 disabled workers in 112,300 obligated firms; IT and finance sectors show strongest progress (+3–4pp); 31% of firms now meet the obligation through direct employment alone. (DARES Résultats n°67, 2024)
Designing Effective Wage Subsidies for Disabled Workers in Europe
Policy design review of employer wage subsidies across Nordic, Continental, and Eastern European models — marginal employment effects, deadweight loss, and optimal targeting.
The European Accessibility Act: Economic and Employment Impacts
Assessment of the EAA's projected effects on accessible product markets, employment of disabled workers in ICT and built-environment sectors, and consumer spending power.
Revisiting the Employment Effects of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Updates Acemoglu-Angrist with richer disability categorisation; finds negative employment effects for work-disability, but positive outcomes for non-work disabilities — suggesting the ADA's effects are highly heterogeneous.
European Disability Strategy 2021–2030: Employment Targets and Fiscal Impact
Analysis of the EU Disability Strategy's employment sub-goals, modelling the fiscal and economic impact of achieving the 2030 targets for disability employment rates.
Labour Supply Responses to Reducing the Risk of Losing Disability Insurance Benefits
Finland's automatic reinstatement policy for disability insurance — allowing recipients to trial work without forfeiting benefits — produces significant positive labour supply responses among partial DI recipients, demonstrating that reducing benefit-loss risk raises employment. (VATT WP 163, Paukkeri & Ravaska)
Designing Disability Insurance Reforms: Eligibility vs. Benefit Cuts
Using two Austrian DI reform episodes, this Econometrica paper finds tightening eligibility rules dominates benefit cuts in fiscal savings and lower insurance loss — a key result for EU social insurance reform debates.
Disability, Work and Inclusion in Italy: Better Assessment for Better Support
OECD country-level deep dive into Italy's DI assessment system; tests an alternative framework in four regions and finds better assessment design can significantly improve labour market integration outcomes.
Quota Systems for Disability Employment in Europe: Effectiveness and Alternatives
Comparative policy analysis of mandatory employment quotas across Germany, France, Austria, and Poland — compliance rates, economic effects, and lessons for other member states.
Beschäftigung von Menschen mit Schwerbehinderung: Die Ausgleichsabgabe wirkt
Regression-discontinuity analysis shows Germany's disability employment levy (Ausgleichsabgabe) increases hiring of severely disabled workers near the 40-employee quota threshold. (Hiesinger & Vetter, IAB-Forum)
UN CRPD Article 27 in Europe: From Ratification to Employment Rights
Review of EU member states' implementation of the CRPD's right-to-work provisions, with economic assessments of the cost of non-compliance and the dividend of full implementation.
Hoe bereiken we een inclusieve arbeidsmarkt?
Practice-oriented synthesis from the Dutch Knowledge Alliance for Inclusion and Technology: maps barriers for workers with limitations and identifies evidence-based employer interventions and re-integration pathways that durably raise employment participation. (TNO, 2022)
Disability, Work and Inclusion: Mainstreaming in All Policies
Landmark OECD review finds that despite decades of activation policy, disability employment and poverty gaps remain stubbornly high; 24% of people with disabilities live below 60% of median income vs 14% for non-disabled.
Consequences of Employment Protection: The Case of the ADA
Using CPS data, Acemoglu and Angrist find the ADA reduced employment of disabled men across all working ages and disabled women under 40, driven by reduced hiring — the foundational study on trade-offs in disability protection legislation.