To what extent does disability discourage from work? An empirical analysis of labour force participation of disabled people in Italy

This paper is an empirical study on the work opportunities of people with disability using Italian data collected through a survey carried out by ISTAT in 2004. Our analysis is guided by the conceptual framework of the capability approach and investigates the role of conversion factors in the ability to be employed and the type of employment. We rst use a simple probit for labour force participation and then a sequential logit for the outcomes of participation as well as employment status. In all variants we nd that chronic illness is a stronger deterrent for labour force participation than disability. Women are more discouraged by disability compared to men. Among the various types of disabilities, `intellectual' disability is the strongest barrier as can be expected and hearing the least in uential. In a sequential decision-making process, we nd that disability a ects both labour force participation decision and the ability to be employed but not so much the choice between part-time and full-time.