Norwegian Vocational Rehabilitation Programs: Improving Employability and Preventing Disability?

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This paper investigates the effects of five different vocational rehabilitation (VR) programs on the hazard rates into employment, disability and temporarily withdrawals from the labor market for persons who face severe problems in re-entering the labor market, mostly due to medical problems. One of the main findings is that re-education into a new profession is an effective way to improve employability and prevent disability. Work training produces varying results and is more effective the more it resembles a real job. All programs, and in particular re-education, comes with a cost of increased VR duration. Finally, those with the worst initial employment prospects are the ones who benefit most from participation.