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Compensating Differentials for Risk of Death in Australia

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  • PAUL MILLER
  • CHARLES MULVEY
  • KEITH NORRIS

Abstract

The theory of compensating wage differentials suggests that, for workers with similar human capital and other characteristics, earnings should he relatively high in industries where there is an above average risk of death. Using data from Worksafe Australia, this paper confirms the existence of such differentials in Australia. A worker facing the mean fatality risk would receive between 2.8 and 4.8 per cent higher earnings than a worker in a job where there is no risk of death. The lower estimate is similar to that reported by Kniesner and Leeth (1991). The estimated wage differentials are used to calculate the implicit value of a life.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Miller & Charles Mulvey & Keith Norris, 1997. "Compensating Differentials for Risk of Death in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 73(223), pages 363-372, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:73:y:1997:i:223:p:363-372
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.1997.tb01008.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Viscusi, W Kip & Moore, Michael J, 1987. "Workers' Compensation: Wage Effects, Benefit Inadequacies, and the Value of Health Losses," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(2), pages 249-261, May.
    2. Polachek,Solomon W. & Siebert,W. Stanley, 1993. "The Economics of Earnings," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521367288.
    3. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    4. Kniesner, Thomas J & Leeth, John D, 1991. "Compensating Wage Differentials for Fatal Injury Risk in Australia, Japan, and the United States," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 75-90, January.
    5. Marin, Alan & Psacharopoulos, George, 1982. "The Reward for Risk in the Labor Market: Evidence from the United Kingdom and a Reconciliation with Other Studies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 90(4), pages 827-853, August.
    6. Garen, John, 1988. "Compensating Wage Differentials and the Endogeneity of Job Riskiness," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(1), pages 9-16, February.
    7. Dillingham, Alan E, 1985. "The Influence of Risk Variable Definition on Value-of-Life Estimates," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 23(2), pages 277-294, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marcela Parada-Contzen & Andrés Riquelme-Won & Felipe Vasquez-Lavin, 2013. "The value of a statistical life in Chile," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 1073-1087, December.
    2. Bellavance, Franois & Dionne, Georges & Lebeau, Martin, 2009. "The value of a statistical life: A meta-analysis with a mixed effects regression model," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 444-464, March.
    3. Jaithri Ananthapavan & Marj Moodie & Andrew J. Milat & Rob Carter, 2021. "Systematic Review to Update ‘Value of a Statistical Life’ Estimates for Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Dionne, Georges & Lebeau, Martin, 2010. "Le calcul de la valeur statistique d’une vie humaine," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 86(4), pages 487-530, décembre.
    5. A.T. Le, 1998. "Self Employment and Earnings Among Immigrants in Australia," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 98-28, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    6. Courard-Hauri David & Lauer Stephen A., 2012. "Taking "All Men Are Created Equal" Seriously: Toward a Metric for the Intergroup Comparison of Utility Functions Through Life Values," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-30, August.
    7. Viscusi, W Kip & Aldy, Joseph E, 2003. "The Value of a Statistical Life: A Critical Review of Market Estimates throughout the World," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 5-76, August.
    8. Zac Reynolds & Daehoon Nahm & Craig MacMillan, 2022. "Compensating Wage Differentials for Job Fatality and Injury Risk in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 98(321), pages 152-165, June.
    9. Ikuho Kochi & Bryan Hubbell & Randall Kramer, 2006. "An Empirical Bayes Approach to Combining and Comparing Estimates of the Value of a Statistical Life for Environmental Policy Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 34(3), pages 385-406, July.
    10. W. Kip Viscusi & Clayton Masterman, 2017. "Anchoring biases in international estimates of the value of a statistical life," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 103-128, April.

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