Document Type

Article

Publication Title

American Law and Economics Review

Publication Date

Fall 2019

ISSN

1465-7252

Page Number

307

Keywords

workers' compensation, medical care, occupational injuries

Disciplines

Law | Medical Jurisprudence | Workers' Compensation Law

Abstract

With irreversible investments in safety, changes in workers' compensation laws should affect employer incentives asymmetrically: increases in workers' compen- sation generosity should cause employers to invest more in safety, but comparable decreases might not cause them to disinvest in existing precautionary programs or equipment. Although maximum weekly benefits caps have been fairly stable, state laws have expanded or restricted workers' compensation on multiple other dimensions. State laws may impose new requirements regarding burdens of proof, access to medical care, and the duration of benefits. This article estimates the effect of changes in these more comprehensive measures of workers' compensa- tion laws on workplace safety. Using confidential, restricted data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, the article finds that increases in workers' compen- sation generosity lead to a significant decrease in fatality rates, while decreases in workers' compensation generosity do not significantly increase fatality rates.

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.