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Using Occupational Injury Data to Estimate VSL

2013

This article discusses the use of occupational fatality rate data to estimate the additional pay workers receive for bearing greater risks, while controlling for other aspects of the job and characteristics of the worker. This tradeoff rate is typically referenced as the value of a statistical life (VSL). The extensive U.S. labor market literature generating VSL estimates has utilized several fatality rate measures which are typically matched to employment information on workers from large datasets. The advent of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) alleviated the shortcomings of previously available fatality rate measures. As a result, it allowed researchers to develop more refined measures of the fatality rate and improve the estimation of VSL.

 

Source:

Viscusi WK. Using Data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) to Estimate the "Value of a Statistical Life." Monthly Labor Review. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2013. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2013/article/using-data-from-the-census-of-fatal-occupational-injuries-to-estimate-the.htm