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Compensation for Occupational Risk and Valuation of Statistical Life

Author

Listed:
  • Agamoni Majumder

    (Institute for Social and Economic Change)

  • S. Madheswaran

    (Institute for Social and Economic Change)

Abstract

This paper uses information on a sample of 430 blue collar workers from different manufacturing industries of Ahmedabad, India to examine the influence of worker’s compensation on their wage and mortality rates. This relation has a direct impact on the value of statistical life (VSL) estimates which is used to evaluate various health and safety policies. The compensation benefit plays a significant role in worker’s compensation package however it has not received much attention in previous Indian studies. Inclusion of the compensation variable not only raises the co-efficient of risk variables but also increases the value of statistical life and value of statistical injury (VSI) estimates. The result of this study indicates that trade-off between worker’s wage and compensation benefit exists for the workers in the sample. The estimated VSL that captures the effect of compensation benefit ranges between INR 30.27 million ($0.46 million) and INR 72.11 million ($1.10 million) while the estimated VSI ranges between INR 1.94 million ($0.029 million) and INR 2.82 million ($0.043 million). Besides, this paper goes further to study the rate of substitution between worker’s compensation benefit and their wage and finds that the benefit levels are sub-optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Agamoni Majumder & S. Madheswaran, 2020. "Compensation for Occupational Risk and Valuation of Statistical Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 967-989, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:149:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02269-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02269-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joseph E. Aldy & W. Kip Viscusi, 2008. "Adjusting the Value of a Statistical Life for Age and Cohort Effects," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 573-581, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Liang Tan & Aochen Cao & Dongyang Qiu & Bolin Liang, 2023. "Life Value Assessment Methods in Emerging Markets: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-13, May.

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