Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) take-up tends to increase during recessions. We exploit variation across immigrant groups in the non-pecuniary costs of participating in SSDI to examine the role that costs play in applicant decisions across the business cycle. We show that immigrants...

This paper analyzes the individual-level effects of disability onset on labor market outcomes using novel administrative data from Germany. Combining propensity score matching techniques with an event-study design, we find lasting negative impacts on employment and wages. One important mechanism...