MPhil Economics

What are the costs and benefits associated with different labour market policies in the employment of disabled individuals?
This project would have two parts: firstly, national data available online will be used to investigate whether and to what extent different policies have improved the employment, participation, retention, wage rates of disabled workers, probably using a regression discontinuity design. The analysis would include the UK, which relies on "reasonable adjustments" from employers (i.e install lifts for wheelchair users), and France, which uses a mandatory quota system (i.e required % of disabled people per firm), as well as affirmative actions (e.g requirement to interview x% of disabled individuals for a position) from other countries (to be determined). Secondly, a questionnaire will be created to produce interview data to assess disabled workers' feelings towards the policies governing their employment. A key sub-question is whether quotas and affirmative actions lead to a "Golem effect", i.e negatively impact the self-esteem of disabled workers by singling them out, such that it may decrease their productivity. Ultimately, the perception of disabled workers will supplement thequantitative findings to identify what an optimal inclusionary policy would be.