The Labor Market Effects of Disability Discrimination Laws

Abstract

We present new evidence on the effects of disability discrimination laws based on variation induced by state-level antidiscrimination measures passed prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The evidence expands upon other research that focuses solely on the impact of the ADA by using a “quasi-experimental” framework that generates treatment and comparison groups. We find that disability discrimination laws are associated with lower relative earnings of the disabled, with slightly lower disabled relative labor force participation rates, but are not associated with lower relative employment rates for the disabled once we control for preexisting employment trends among the disabled.