Dynamics of reporting work disability in Europe

We investigate the role of response consistency in the dynamics of reporting work disability. Using the 2004 and 2006 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we document that in Europe surprisingly large fractions of individuals change their self-reported disability status within 2 years. We find that these dynamics can be largely explained by the fact that respondents change the way that they evaluate the severity of work disability problems over time.