Search

Objective The risk of developing osteoarthritis (OA) has been reported to increase with exposure to various ergonomic factors at work, although this finding is still debated in the literature. Aim of this study was to assess the association between prevalence of symptomatic OA and exposure to workplace ergonomic factors assigned through a job-exposures matrix (JEM). Methods The study population was composed of 24,604 persons of 40–69 years who participated in the National Health Survey 2013 and were employed at that occasion. Exposure to ergonomic factors was assigned to the study population through a JEM constructed from the Italian O*NET database, consisting of 17 physical factors, which were summed and averaged by job title (796 jobs) to obtain a combined exposure index. The outcome was self-reported OA characterized by moderate or severe limitations in daily activities. The relationship between OA prevalence and the combined exposure index in quartiles was examined using robust Poisson regression models adjusted for socio-demographics and potential confounders. Results In the analysis adjusted for age and gender, the risk of OA was increased by approximately 20–30% in the second and third quartiles, and by 80% in the highest exposure quartile, compared to the least exposed, with a risk attenuation by approximately 15–20% controlling for other significant covariates. Conclusion Our results support a causal role of exposure to physical factors at work in the development of OA. As OA is associated with a great burden of disability, any effort should be made to reduce workers’ exposure to ergonomic factors.

After two decades of labour market reforms at the margin, the great recession created political scope to reduce the employment protection still benefitting the workers on open-ended contracts. To support employment levels, these policies have generally been combined with generous employment subsidies. While the theoretical and empirical literature on the two interventions taken in isolation appear generally abundant, almost nothing is known when they come combined. Analogously, no evidence is available on their distributional effects. This paper aims to fill these two gaps by means of counterfactual models estimated on high-frequency employer-employee-linked Italian data. Taking advantage of the quasi-experimental conditions created by the reforms enforced in Italy in 2015, we fit a (non-linear) difference-in-differences strategy into a competing risks duration model. We find prompt sensitivity of small firms to the incentives, while the large ones waited until they were combined with lower firing costs. Small firms substitute temporary for permanent employment, while larger ones do not seem inclined to forego fixed-term contracts, possibly for a probationary period. The reforms have benefitted domestic workers over foreigners, prime-age and older individuals over the young, and those with higher human capital. No gender effects emerge. Small firms operating in non-innovative sectors carry the bulk of heterogeneity effects. Finally, analysis on duration of newly activated open-ended contracts reveals a transitory effect, as separations jumped once the subsidies came to an end.

We measure the impact of employment protection reduction in an uncertain framework on firms’ hires and performance, exploiting the Italian 2015 Jobs Act. Results indicate that firms (1) stabilize workforce mainly through contract transformations of low-tenure and low-human-capital incumbent workers performing high-physical and low-intellectual tasks; (2) apply a cost-saving strategy that increases profits and decreases value added per-head. Effects are stronger among non-exporting and non-innovative firms. Our evidence casts doubts on the effectiveness of employment protection reductions in enhancing productivity in the long run.

Using high-frequency Italian administrative data, the author studies the heterogeneous effects of a reform raising the normal retirement age (NRA) from 60 years to 65 years for private-sector male employees. The analysis, based on a difference-in-differences (DD) method, shows that the NRA raise reduces pension benefit claims but does not lead to a one-to-one increase in the employment rate since workers also apply for more disability and unemployment benefits. Moreover, most of them simply retire without any benefit. The extent of the effects varies substantially across socio-economic groups, as individuals with poorer health, with lower occupational grades and lower pay levels are the most constrained by the reform, experiencing the highest delay in pension claims, increase in employment, and inactivity. All in all, this paper shows that raising the NRA could have unintended effects as it affects more negatively the most vulnerable in the labor market.

Researchers have long documented a significant association between exposure to unfavorable working conditions and poorer occupational health and safety. However, measures of occupational exposures are often lacking from national and international surveys. Drawing on research on job-exposures matrices (JEMs) and exploiting the Italian O*NET, we construct a new indicator of exposure to ergonomic unfavorable conditions at work (Ergo-Index) and we test its predictive power on the incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Exploiting 5-years of administrative archives of the Italian National Workers Compensation Institute and running a set of negative binomial regression models, we find a very strong association between the Ergo-Index and the incidence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD). Compared to the least exposed category (Ergo-Index p75) for notified WRMSD, and almost 250 times higher for compensated WRMSD. Hence, the Ergo-Index strongly predicts the occurrence of occupational musculoskeletal disorders and could be used to assign work exposures in studies where occupation is available and for priority setting of ergonomic hazards control.

The article aims to present the most recent evidence on the life-expectancy differentials across socio-economic groups in Italy and discuss their implications in terms of equity and fairness of the pension systems. In fact, Italian pension rules are set according to average life expectancy, ignoring the shorter life expectancy at retirement observed in more disadvantaged socioeconomic groups, as well as in many occupations and economic sectors. This produces unintended consequences in terms of redistribution, which reinforce and exacerbate inequalities present in the labour market. This article will present updated evidence on the evolution of life expectancy inequalities across job titles, sectors and occupational class in Italy to assess whether the social gap, already highlighted by previous scholars, has been widening or narrowing. Only a few studies are available in the literature on this subject, almost exclusively from the US, which suggest that the gap in terms of life expectancy at ages approaching retirement is increasing, mainly driven by a faster improvement in longevity across most advantaged groups. It is crucial to examine the trend in a country like Italy where retirement age has been strongly tightened and linked automatically to average life expectancy in the population. These results may be important in order to inform the public debate about future reforms on retirement rules and in particular for the definition of the so called “arduous and hazardous jobs” (in Italian: lavori gravosi), that could be exempted from the postponement of pension age. In order to estimate life expectancy differentials among different occupations, three of the largest Italian longitudinal studies will be used: the Turin Longitudinal Study (SLT), the Italian Longitudinal Study (SLI) and WHIP-Health Study, all studies where it is possible to conduct mortality follow-up through administrative record linkage with archives of mortality of large cohorts until recent years.

This study investigates the effect of pension age on hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases using administrative social security and hospital discharge records in Italy. The endogeneity of the retirement decision is addressed using an instrumental variable strategy exploiting the exogenous variation in pension age determined by quarter of birth. Results indicate a detrimental effect of higher pension age only for retirees who, before retirement, were suffering worse health and were employed in lower quality and more physically demanding jobs. Among them, a 1‐year delay in pension claiming increases the risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular diseases by approximately 2.6 percentage points.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of unemployment on coronary heart diseases (CHD) in Italy on a sample of male manual workers in the private sector. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigate the association between CHD and different unemployment experiences (ever unemployed; short, mid and long cumulative unemployment), exploiting a large Italian administrative database on careers and health. The study design is based on the balancing of individuals' characteristics during a 12-year pre-treatment period; the measurement of unemployment occurrence during a seven-year treatment period; the observation of CHD occurrence during a five-year follow up. The workers characteristics and the probability of receiving the treatment are balanced by means of propensity score matching. Standard diagnostics on the balancing assumption are discussed and satisfied, while the robustness to violations of the unconfoundedness assumption is evaluated by a simulation-based sensitivity analysis. Findings The authors find a significant increase of CHD probability was found among workers who experience more than three years of unemployment (relative risks (RR)=1.91, ppp Originality/value The very large representative sample (n=69,937) and the deep longitudinal dimension of the data (1985-2008) allowed the authors to minimize the risks of health selection and unemployment misclassification. Moreover, the adopted definition of unemployment corrected some undercoverage and misclassification issues that affect studies based on a purely administrative definition and that treat unemployment as a unique career event disregarding the duration of the experience.

Background Aim of the study was to identify work organization features and workplace hazards associated with sickness presenteeism (SP) among European workers. Methods The study was conducted on data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2010 and included a study population of 30,279 employees. The relationship between work-related factors and SP was assessed through Poisson multivariate robust regression models, adjusting for significant (P

European countries have experienced an outstanding increase in life expectancy during the last decades; however, this desirable and laudable societal achievement has challenged pension systems financial sustainability. National governments have almost unanimously responded to this demographic change by limiting access to retirement, mainly increasing statutory pension age. This article explores possible unintended effects of work life extension in the context of ageing population and provides some policy considerations. In particular, the authors focus on the following issues: work ability at older age, the potential negative health consequences of prolonging exposure to occupational hazards, welfare program substitution, shortage of informal caring, and, finally, the inequity innate in pension systems which disregard differences in life expectancy between socio economic groups. Negli ultimi decenni l’Europa ha conosciuto uno straordinario aumento dell’aspettativa di vita. Questo importante risultato ha tuttavia posto i sistemi previdenziali in serie difficolta mettendone a rischio la sostenibilita finanziaria. I governi quasi all’unisono hanno risposto a questa sfida demografica inasprendo i requisiti pensionistici e innalzando l’eta di pensionamento. Questo articolo esplora alcuni possibili effetti indesiderati di questo inatteso allungamento dell’orizzonte lavorativo. In particolare, gli autori si concentrano sulle seguenti questioni: ridotta capacita lavorativa in eta anziana; possibili effetti negativi sulla salute dovuti alla prolungata esposizione a rischi occupazionali; sostituzione fra diversi meccanismi di assistenza sociale; riduzione del lavoro di cura informale; iniquita intrinseca al sistema pensionistico che non considera delle differenze nell’aspettativa di vita fra diversi gruppi sociali.

To mitigate the negative effects of ageing population and low labour market participation on economic development, most of the industrialized countries have reformed their pension systems by increasing the age at which workers become eligible for retirement.

Depression among workers is a major health concern and psychological work factors are considered important risk factors.To investigate exposure to psychosocial work risk factors and prevalence of depressive symptoms in the European working population, and to identify the psychosocial work characteristics that predict them.The study is a secondary data analysis based on a sample of 33,907 European employees from the last edition of the European Working Condition Survey (EWCS 2010). The relationship between the outcome variable (depressive symptoms) and the predictors (psychosocial work factors) was analyzed using a multi-stage Poisson model, estimating gender-specific relative risks (RR) and 95 percent confidence intervals.After adjustment for individual and work characteristics, countries and other psychosocial factors, among men the RR of depressive symptoms was significantly increased for exposure to intermediate psychological demands and to high demands for hiding emotions, whereas high skill discretion, high support from colleagues, high support from managers, high job rewards and high job security significantly decreased the risk. Among women, high psychological demands and intermediate emotional demands significantly enhanced the risk of depressive symptoms while high decision authority, intermediate support from colleagues, high support from managers, high social climate, high job rewards and high job security protected against risk.A high prevalence of depressive symptoms was found in the EWCS 2010, although with wide variations between countries. Several psychosocial factors at work were identified as risk factors for depressive symptoms, even after adjusting for workplace co-exposures and other potential confounders.