Sickness absenteeism figures show a relatively large amount of variation across firms and organizations, indicating substantial within-firm correlations between absenteeism records of individual workers. To study the role of firm-specific circumstances and workforce composition, we specify three-state, multicycle duration models of work, sickness, and job separation, with workplace-specific fixed effects to account for unobserved differences between firms. In the most flexible specification, these fixed effects are separate, nonparametric, baseline hazards for each firm and each type of transition. Alternative estimation methods are discussed and applied to individual absenteeism histories of primary-school teachers.

We analyze the effect of economic conditions early in life on individual mortality rate later in life, using business cycle conditions early in life as an exogenous indicator. Individual records from Dutch registers of birth, marriage, and death, covering a window of unprecedented size (1912–2000) are merged with historical data on macroeconomic and health indicators. We correct for secular changes over time and other mortality determinants. We nonparametrically compare those born in a recession to those born in the preceding boom, and we estimate duration models where the individual's mortality rate depends on current conditions, conditions early in life, age individual characteristics, including individual socioeconomic indicators, and interaction terms. The results indicate a significant negative effect of economic conditions early in life on individual mortality rates at all ages.