Randomized Safety Inspections and Risk Exposure on the Job: Quasi-experimental Estimates of the Value of a Statistical Life

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lee, Jonathan; Taylor, Laura O.
• 署名单位: University of North Carolina; East Carolina University; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150024
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 350-374
• 关键词: compensating wage differentials; Heterogeneity; ENFORCEMENT; injuries; work

摘要

The value of a statistical life (VSL) is a critical driver of estimated benefits for federal policies designed to improve human health, safety, and environmental exposures. The vast majority of empirical evidence on the magnitude of the VSL arises from hedonic wage models that have been plagued by measurement error and omitted variables. To address these limitations, this paper employs randomly assigned workplace safety inspections to instrument for plant-level risks in a quasi-experimental design. We provide credible causal evidence for the existence of compensating wages for fatality risks and estimate a VSL between $(2016)8 million and $(2016)10 million.