The Learning Performance and Cost Effectiveness of Mentally Disabled Workers

Abstract

This article presents the results of an empirical test of the applicability of using a learning curve to plan and evaluate the performance of a group of mentally disabled production workers at a small manufacturing plant. A regression model of the worker's performance over 10 weeks shows that they experienced the standard log-linear learning curve relationship between task time per unit and cumulative units. Their learning rate was approximately 85%, which falls within the learning rate range of earlier studies of nondisabled workers. Comparison of mentally disabled and nondisabled workers on the same task shows that the latter had higher turnover, lower initial task time, and a slower learning rate. Extending the learning curve model shows how a firm can include wage differentials between disabled and nondisabled workers to evaluate the cost effectiveness of disabled workers. For the firm in this study, disabled workers created a short-term cost penalty but generated long-term savings. The firm's cost-effective break-even point was approximately midway between the 1st and 2nd month after employing the disabled workers.