Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/252241 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 15117
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The most enduring measure of how individuals make personal decisions affecting their health and safety is the compensating wage differential for job safety risk revealed in the labor market via hedonic equilibrium outcomes. The decisions in turn reveal the value of a statistical life (VSL), the value of a statistical injury (VSI), and the value of a statistical life year (VSLY), which have both mortality and morbidity aspects that we describe and apply here. All such tradeoff rates play important roles in policy decisions concerning improving individual welfare. Specifically, we explicate the recent empirical research on VSL and its related concepts and link the empirical results to the on-going examinations of many government policies intended to improve individuals' health and longevity. We pay special attention to recent issues such as the COVID pandemic and newly emerging foci on distributional consequences concerning which demographic groups may benefit most from certain regulations.
Subjects: 
value of statistical life
VSL
value of statistical injury
VSI
value of a statistical life year
VSLY
mortality risk
morbidity risk
benefit cost analysis
hedonic labor market equilibrium
compensating wage differential
evaluation of health and safety programs
JEL: 
J17
I18
H40
K32
J28
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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