Date:         Wed, 29 Apr 1998 10:08:50 -0800
   From:         Debbie Woods <[log in to unmask]>

Dear List Manager,
I'm writing to ask if you would post this message, announcing the
flowing working paper to your list.  The abstract and authors are
provided.  This working papaer is made available at the Institute of
Industrial Relations (IIR)/UC Berkeley Web,
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~iir/wpapers/.

Interested persons may download the working paper in Adobe Acrobat.PDF
format from this URL.

Persons interested in submitting a working paper to this series may use
an online submission form, or contact the series editor, Professor David
I. Levine.  Contact directions are provided on the IIR Web.

Reinventing Disability Policy
David I. Levine
Haas School of Business University of California, Berkeley

Abstract:

The disability system in the United States spends approximately $120
billion a year to keep millions of working-aged people on poverty-level
stipends while essentially banning them from working.

A reinvented system would focus on moving people from dependence to
independence with flexible vocational rehabilitation vouchers,
work-oriented assessments, and simple rules that guarantee that nobody
would ever be made worse off by working.

A problem with creating a system that combines work and partial
disability benefits is that it may attract new entrants onto the
disability rolls.

A key insight of this proposal is that these generous work incentives
can be tested on the current six million working-age recipients without
inducing entry that raises costs

Thank you,

Debbie Woods

Debbie Woods
Program and Publications Coordinator
Institute of Industrial Relations
510-643-3012