# Do depressive symptoms influence nonattendance at work? A semiparametric approach

## TL;DR

This study finds that depressive symptoms lead to more work absences, with depressed workers missing about 12 more days per year than non-depressed ones.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in using a semiparametric model to estimate the impact of depressive symptoms on absenteeism without imposing strong assumptions.

## Key findings

- Depressed workers miss around 12 more days of work per year compared to non-depressed workers.
- Obese individuals and older people show higher average absenteeism.
- Non-college education, being male, and being self-employed are associated with lower absenteeism.

## Abstract

Depression is a common disorder that impacts on individuals’ ability to perform daily activities, including those required for working. People with poor health tend to have problems needing medical care and therefore need time away from their work. This paper considers a structural model of labor absenteeism, considering the effect of depression. Our objective is to estimate the effects that depressive symptoms (among other factors) have on absenteeism while avoiding inconsistency in estimators due to sample selection and endogenous regressor. We are unwilling to impose strong assumptions, which are sometimes not required by theory, so our model is semiparametric. Based on microdata from the European Health Survey in Spain, our results indicate that depressive symptoms have a negative effect on working time and increase absenteeism. We conclude that depressed workers lose on average around 12 more days per year than non depressed ones. Levels of absenteeism are also estimated to be higher on average among obese people and among older people (the effect of age is positive). On the other hand, non-college education, being male and being self-employed are factors related to lower levels of absenteeism.