Labor market valuations of life and limb: empirical evidence and policy implications

Abstract

The empirical analysis of compensating wage differentials received by 496 blue-collar workers yields the first implicit values of injuries ever obtained and the only implicit values of life that take into account compensation for other nonpecuniary characteristics. Workers behave as if they attached a dollar value of $10(4) to nonfatal injuries and $10(6) to death. This value of life estimate exceeds those found in other studies, not because these earlier estimates are wrong, but simply because there is not a unique value of life but a distribution of such values across the population. Detailed discussions indicate the pertinence of these results not only to occupational health and safety policies but also to benefit-cost analyses of other policies affecting life and limb.