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Gender Wage Differentials and the Occupational Injury Risk - Evidence from Germany and the US

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  • Kluve, Jochen
  • Schaffner, Sandra

Abstract

Numerous studies, in particular for the US, have shown that individuals in occupations with high injury risk are compensated for that risk by corresponding bonus payments. At the same time, male workers are overrepresented in the most dangerous occupations like scaffolders or miners, while females typically work in relatively safe occupations with respect to occupational injuries. It is therefore remarkable that almost all studies analyzing the gender wage gap have disregarded different occupational injury risks as a potential explanatory variable for observed gender wage differentials. By merging data on occupational injury risks to German and US panel data on individual workers, this study analyzes gender wage differentials in Germany and the US considering fatal occupational injury risk. The Blinder-Oaxaca method for tobit models is used to decompose the gender wage gap with and without consideration of the fatal injury risk. Our results indicate that the compensating wage differentials for risky jobs are reflected in the resulting gender wage gap, which is caused by the unequal distribution of occupational injury risks among men and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Kluve, Jochen & Schaffner, Sandra, 2007. "Gender Wage Differentials and the Occupational Injury Risk - Evidence from Germany and the US," Ruhr Economic Papers 28, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:28
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yakovlev, Pavel & Sobel, Russell S., 2010. "Occupational safety and profit maximization: Friends or foes?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 429-435, June.
    2. Schneider, Julia & Beblo, Miriam, 2010. "Health at work - indicators and determinants : a revised literature and data review for Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 201017, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. Ahmad Mujtaba Khan & Asma Hyder, 2017. "The Statistical Value of Injury Risk in Pakistan’s Construction and Manufacturing Sectors," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 22(1), pages 1-18, Jan-June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender wage differentials; occupational injury risk; compensating wage differentials; Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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