Are Employment Protection Laws for Disabled People Effective in a Developing Country Evidence from Cambodia

Palmer, Michael and Williams, Jenny (2017): Are Employment Protection Laws for Disabled People Effective in a Developing Country Evidence from Cambodia.

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of a law protecting and promoting the employment rights of disabled people in a developing country setting. Using data from the Cambodian Socioeconomic Survey and a difference-in-difference design, we find that employment of the disabled fell by around 9 percentage points in the four years following the introduction of the disability law. The reduction in employment is greater for women than men and is concentrated amongst employees, with the self-employment rate unaffected by the policy change. Several mechanisms via which the introduction of the law reduced employment of the disabled are explored. We find that the most plausible mechanism is that employers reduce their demand for disabled labor in order to avoid the cost of workplace accommodations for disabled workers. We also find that families respond to the reduced employment of their disabled members by providing unpaid work and roles within the family home, and by providing income transfers to non-resident disabled family members.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: disability law; employment; difference-indifference design; developing country
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C2 - Single Equation Models ; Single Variables > C21 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; K - Law and Economics > K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law > K31 - Labor Law

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