Paper Abstract
422. W. Kip Viscusi, The Value of Life: Estimates with Risks by Occupation and Industry, 05/2003; subsequently published in Economic Inquiry, Vol. 42, No. 1, January 2004, 29-48.
Abstract: The worker fatality risk variable constructed for this paper uses BLS data on total worker deaths by both occupation and industry over the 1992-1997 period rather than death risks by occupation or industry alone, as in past studies. The subsequent estimates using 1997 CPS data indicate a value of life of $4.7 million for the full sample, $7.0 million for blue-collar males, and $8.5 million for blue-collar females. Unlike previous estimates, these values account for the influence of clustering of the job risk variable and compensating differentials for both workers' compensation and nonfatal job risks.