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The economic consequences of accidents at work

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriele Mazzolini

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
    Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

Abstract

This paper investigates the economic consequences of workplace accidents in the British labour market. For the empirical analysis, I use data on employment and earnings from the British Household Panel Survey and exploit fixed effects estimators to control for time-invariant unobserved workers’ characteristics. I provide evidence that accidents at work negatively affect both job opportunities and workers’ earnings. First, employment probabilities following a state of injury are significantly lower. This effect persists over time and is stronger in those regions where the macroeconomic conditions are worse. Second, a serious workplace accident also results in significant delayed wage penalties, which increase with the accident’s seriousness. The effect is lower in the public sector and unionized firms, where job and earnings protection is higher and physically demanding working conditions are not widespread, or if the worker moves to a new job which suits his/her post-injury abilities better.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriele Mazzolini, 2014. "The economic consequences of accidents at work," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza def015, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ctc:serie1:def015
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    File URL: http://dipartimenti.unicatt.it/economia-finanza-def015.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    accident at work; employment; earnings losses; BHPS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income

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