Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Regulation and Governance
Publication Date
1-2023
ISSN
1748-5983
Page Number
250
Keywords
enforcement, occupational fatality, penalty, regulation, value of a statistical life
Disciplines
Law | Law and Economics
Abstract
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration establishes incentives for safety by setting and enforcing regulatorystandards. Using four and a half decades of inspection data, this article provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors underpinning penalties following fatalities. The “fatality premium” for regulatory violations following a worker death is quitemodest and is several orders of magnitude below the value-of-a-statistical-life figure needed to establish efficient levels of deterrence in the absence of all other financial incentives. Although there are low statutory caps on penalties, only 8% of thepenalties for violations involving fatalities are constrained by the cap, suggesting that current statutes establish norms for reasonable penalty amounts. In situations involving a fatality at firms with union representation during the inspection, theenforcement sanctions are more stringent. Fatalities involving migrant laborers are less heavily penalized.
Recommended Citation
W. Kip Viscusi and Robert J. Cramer,
How Regulations Undervalue Occupational Fatalities, 17 Regulation and Governance. 250
(2023)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1527