By Aleksander Andreev
By some estimates, almost 6% of Russians are officially disabled. The Russian government has announced the rehabilitation of disabled individuals into the labor force as one of its goals. This paper investigates labor supply decisions of Russia’s disabled using data from the cross-sectional NOBUS dataset. Particular emphasis will be made on differences in disability and employment trends across various strata of the Russian population. The paper concludes that Federal disability pension policy does not substantially disincentivize employment. A key finding is that employment decisions are based primarily on health status, family dynamics, and local opportunities.
Advisor: Charles Becker