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Is Injury Compensation Excessive?

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Ableson

    (Department of Economics, Macquarie University)

Abstract

There is widely perceived to be a public liability crisis in Australia. This paper analyses whether court awards for injuries are excessive. The paper has two main parts. The first part outlines a normative basis for the sizes of awards based on the principles of welfare economics and the amounts that individuals would be willing to pay to avoid injuries. It shows the kinds of compensation sums that would be involved for 28 typical injuries ranging from broken arms and legs to quadriplegia and severe brain damage. The second part of the paper analyses 397 court awards for injuries greater than $250 000 in NSW from 1991 to mid-2002, for which award details were readily available. This includes 101 awards for traffic accidents, 64 awards for workers compensation, and 27 awards for personal injury. The paper concludes that court awards are generally not excessive.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Ableson, 2003. "Is Injury Compensation Excessive?," Research Papers 0306, Macquarie University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:mac:wpaper:0306
    as

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    File URL: http://www.econ.mq.edu.au/research/2003/Abelson_6_2003.pdf
    File Function: First Version, 2003
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