NB21-03: Transferable Skills and Return-to-Work Outcomes for Workers with Permanent Disabilities: Evidence from a 2005 Workers’ Compensation Reform in Oregon

Return to work after the onset of a health condition depends on a worker having sufficient residual functional capacity to work in either the same or a different occupation. Individuals with transferable skills should be better able to adapt to a new occupation if their functional limitations impede their ability to work in a previous occupation. This project analyzes the relationship between transferrable skills and return-to-work outcomes, using a 2005 workers’ compensation reform in Oregon. The reform increased benefits for some workers and decreased them for others, allowing us to compare the incremental return-to-work outcomes of individuals, based on their transferable skills, as the value of their disability benefits changed.