Gender Differences in the Duration of Sick Leave: Economics or Biology

Ángel Martín-Román (), Alfonso Moral and Sara Pinillos-Franco ()

No 1542, GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Abstract: This study addresses the gender gap in workplace sick leave duration, focusing on the underlying economic and biological factors that contribute to this disparity. Using a novel methodological approach, we combine the stochastic frontier technique with an Oaxaca-Blinder-type decomposition to separate sick leave into medically justified and "opportunistic" days. Our analysis, based on detailed administrative data of workplace accidents in Spain, reveals that men and women recover at different rates for the same injuries, with biological differences explaining the majority of the observed gender gap. Additionally, we identify that men tend to use more sick leave days for reasons unrelated to health recovery. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and employers, providing an empirical foundation for targeted policies that reduce gender-based discrimination in the workplace and ensure fairer resource allocation. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the gender gap in occupational health and offers implications for improving workplace equality.

Keywords: Gender Gap; Sick Leave Duration; Workplace Accidents; Stochastic Frontier Analysis; Occupational Health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 I12 I13 J16 J28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-hea and nep-lab
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:glodps:1542

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