Substitution Between Disability Support Programs in Canada

We use Canadian data from 1970 to 1994 to examine the substitution that can occur between social insurance programs that support disabled persons. We obtain our estimates using an instrumental variable estimator. We find that workers' compensation program policy variables have significant effects on the growth of the Canada/Quebec Pension Plan disability program. Similarly, most of the estimates on the welfare program policy variables also indicate a significant impact on the C/QPP disability program. We conclude the paper by discussing the implications of our estimates for disability policy.