Primary care physicians have two roles: the healer and the gatekeeper. We show that, due to information asymmetries … truly sick and shirkers, will strictly prefer physicians who give priority to healing. The choice between work and sick … leave thus lies, essentially, with the patient. Interviews with Norwegian primary care physicians confirm this: Our …

This paper exploits a Norwegian physician directed reform aimed to reduce sick-leave. Physicians were required to … documentation requirement laid on physicians within the first 8 weeks of a sick-leave spell. Physician-directed policies may be an … (cost-) effective way of reducing sick-leave. -- Labor market policies ; sick-leave ; physicians' gate keeping …

This paper assesses the causal effect of sick-leaves on subsequent earnings using an administrative dataset for Norway … linking individual earnings, sick-leave records and primary care physicians. The leniency of a worker's physician - certifying …