Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Risk and Uncertainty
Publication Date
7-2014
ISSN
0895-5646
Page Number
187
Keywords
willingness to pay, injury, fatal risks, work safety
Disciplines
Labor and Employment Law | Law
Abstract
Our research clarifies the conceptual linkages among willingness to pay for additional safety, willingness to accept less safety, and the value of a statistical life (VSL). We present econometric estimates using panel data to analyze the VSL levels associated with job changes that may affect the worker’s exposure to fatal injury risks. Our baseline VSL estimates are $7.7 million and $8.3 million (Y$2001). There is no statistically significant divergence between willingness-to-accept VSL estimates associated with wage increases for greater risks and willingness-to-pay VSL estimates as reflected in wage changes for decreases in risk. Our focal result contrasts with the literature documenting a considerable asymmetry in tradeoff rates for increases and decreases in risk. An important implication for policy is that it is reasonable to use labor market estimates of VSL as a measure of the willingness to pay for additional safety.
Recommended Citation
W. Kip Viscusi, Thomas J. Kniesner, and James P. Ziliak,
Willingness to Accept Equals Willingness to Pay for Labor Market Estimates of the Value of Statistical Life, 48 Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. 187
(2014)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1566