Three important issues have recently attracted researchers to study the economics of disability. First with the availability of sophisticated "data sets," it has become possible to conduct highly quantative investigations of the relative economic impacts of various types of disabling health problems. Second, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1991, and the subsequent implementation of its employment provisions, focused national attention on the continuing scarcity of employment opportunities for disabled persons. The tools of analysis that have been developed over the past...

This book will present contributions by economists, systems developers, safety, health services, occupational and environmental health, and biomedical researchers in the fields of regulatory development, safety, quality assurance, health outcomes, occupational health, and biomedicine. The contributing research will explore the synergy of new science-based risk regulatory approaches, industry focus on manufacturing efficiencies and information technology and biogenetic innovations, and consumers??? demand for improved safety and quality of products, services, quality assurance, and...