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Valuing the risk of workplace sexual harassment

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  • Joni Hersch

    (Vanderbilt Law School)

Abstract

Using data on sexual harassment charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, I calculate the risk of sexual harassment by gender, industry, and age and establish that white females, but not nonwhite females, receive a compensating wage differential for exposure to a higher risk of sexual harassment. I use this risk premium to calculate the value of statistical harassment (VSH) in a manner analogous to the calculation of the value of statistical life (VSL). The VSH is around $7.6 million, about three-quarters of the size of the most-commonly cited levels of the VSL, and far above the maximum damages award for sexual harassment available under federal law. Boosting the maximum damages award to equal the VSH would create the appropriate economic incentives for organizations to deter sexual harassment.

Suggested Citation

  • Joni Hersch, 2018. "Valuing the risk of workplace sexual harassment," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 111-131, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrisku:v:57:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11166-018-9288-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11166-018-9288-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David N. Laband & Bernard F. Lentz, 1998. "The Effects of Sexual Harassment on Job Satisfaction, Earnings, and Turnover among Female Lawyers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 51(4), pages 594-607, July.
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    9. Joni Hersch & W. Kip Viscusi, 2010. "Immigrant Status and the Value of Statistical Life," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    10. Viscusi, W. Kip & Hersch, Joni, 2008. "The mortality cost to smokers," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 943-958, July.
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    14. Viscusi, W Kip, 2003. "Racial Differences in Labor Market Values of a Statistical Life," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 239-256, December.
    15. Joni Hersch, 2015. "Sexual harassment in the workplace," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 188-188, October.
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    18. Joni Hersch, 2011. "Compensating Differentials for Sexual Harassment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 630-634, May.
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    20. W. Kip Viscusi & Joni Hersch, 2001. "Cigarette Smokers As Job Risk Takers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 269-280, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Giulia Zacchia & Izaskun Zuazu, 2023. "The Wage Effect of Workplace Sexual Harassment: Evidence for Women in Europe," Working Papers Series inetwp205, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    2. Amitrajeet A. Batabyal & Hamid Beladi, 2020. "A game-theoretic model of sexual harassment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1281-1291.
    3. Mehmet Baç, 2023. "Quid pro quo harassment, contracts and liability," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(1), pages 24-45, February.

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