John Treble recently retired as Professor of Economics at Swansea University. He has previously taught and held visiting posts in the UK, North America, Europe and Australia. His work is mainly in labour economics, with some forays into economic history. Professor Treble was the founder of Britain's national labour economics conference, now called the Work and Pensions Economics Group, and served a full term on the founding Committee of the European Society of Labour Economists. Tim Barmby has held the Jaffrey Chair of Political Economy at the University of Aberdeen since 2004, before which he was Professor of Economics at Durham University. His main academic interest is in the empirical analysis of the incentive effects of labour contracts. He has worked with John Treble on the economic analysis of absenteeism for more than twenty-five years.

'John Treble and Tim Barmby have achieved a tour de force. Their book makes very imaginative use of economic theory, illustrated with amusing and illuminating anecdotes. They argue that we should think of absence behaviour as the result of a bargain between employers and their employees, and that medical and psychological factors are only part of the picture. The nature of this bargain explains why some organisations have higher absence rates than others. This opens up scope for considering a much wider range of policies to deal with absence than the traditional ones. Their conclusions will be of interest to practitioners and researchers well beyond the economics fold.' David Marsden, Professor of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics

• List of figures; List of tables; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The supply of absence and the provision of sick pay; 3. The demand for absence; 4. The markets for absence and for sick pay; 5. A brief introduction to identification; 6. The market for absence: empirical evidence; 7. The demand for absence: empirical evidence; Appendix to Chapter 7; 8. Policy implications for firms; 9. Policy implications for states; 10. Conclusion; References; Index.

John Treble recently retired as Professor of Economics at Swansea University. He has previously taught and held visiting posts in the UK, North America, Europe and Australia. His work is mainly in labour economics, with some forays into economic history. Professor Treble was the founder of Britain's national labour economics conference, now called the Work and Pensions Economics Group, and served a full term on the founding Committee of the European Society of Labour Economists. Tim Barmby has held the Jaffrey Chair of Political Economy at the University of Aberdeen since 2004, before which he was Professor of Economics at Durham University. His main academic interest is in the empirical analysis of the incentive effects of labour contracts. He has worked with John Treble on the economic analysis of absenteeism for more than twenty-five years.

'John Treble and Tim Barmby have achieved a tour de force. Their book makes very imaginative use of economic theory, illustrated with amusing and illuminating anecdotes. They argue that we should think of absence behaviour as the result of a bargain between employers and their employees, and that medical and psychological factors are only part of the picture. The nature of this bargain explains why some organisations have higher absence rates than others. This opens up scope for considering a much wider range of policies to deal with absence than the traditional ones. Their conclusions will be of interest to practitioners and researchers well beyond the economics fold.' David Marsden, Professor of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics

• List of figures; List of tables; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The supply of absence and the provision of sick pay; 3. The demand for absence; 4. The markets for absence and for sick pay; 5. A brief introduction to identification; 6. The market for absence: empirical evidence; 7. The demand for absence: empirical evidence; Appendix to Chapter 7; 8. Policy implications for firms; 9. Policy implications for states; 10. Conclusion; References; Index.

John Treble recently retired as Professor of Economics at Swansea University. He has previously taught and held visiting posts in the UK, North America, Europe and Australia. His work is mainly in labour economics, with some forays into economic history. Professor Treble was the founder of Britain's national labour economics conference, now called the Work and Pensions Economics Group, and served a full term on the founding Committee of the European Society of Labour Economists. Tim Barmby has held the Jaffrey Chair of Political Economy at the University of Aberdeen since 2004, before which he was Professor of Economics at Durham University. His main academic interest is in the empirical analysis of the incentive effects of labour contracts. He has worked with John Treble on the economic analysis of absenteeism for more than twenty-five years.

'John Treble and Tim Barmby have achieved a tour de force. Their book makes very imaginative use of economic theory, illustrated with amusing and illuminating anecdotes. They argue that we should think of absence behaviour as the result of a bargain between employers and their employees, and that medical and psychological factors are only part of the picture. The nature of this bargain explains why some organisations have higher absence rates than others. This opens up scope for considering a much wider range of policies to deal with absence than the traditional ones. Their conclusions will be of interest to practitioners and researchers well beyond the economics fold.' David Marsden, Professor of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics

• List of figures; List of tables; Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The supply of absence and the provision of sick pay; 3. The demand for absence; 4. The markets for absence and for sick pay; 5. A brief introduction to identification; 6. The market for absence: empirical evidence; 7. The demand for absence: empirical evidence; Appendix to Chapter 7; 8. Policy implications for firms; 9. Policy implications for states; 10. Conclusion; References; Index.