Abstract
Our research infers the effects of institutionalized wage setting and lengthy worker-firm attachment by comparing estimated compensating wage differentials for fatal injury risk in Japanese, Australian, and U.S. manufacturing. Hedonic labor market equilibrium regressions for Japan reveal a statistically fragile compensating wage differential of 0% to 1.4% for exposure to the average fatality risk compared to employment in a perfectly safe workplace. Australian workers receive a statistically robust 2.5% estimated wage premium. Using new data on work-related fatalities, we find a 1% compensating wage differential in U.S. manufacturing that becomes more positive and statistically less significant as data are aggregated.
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Bentley College, Department of Economics
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Kniesner, T.J., Leeth, J.D. Compensating wage differentials for fatal injury risk in Australia, Japan, and the United States. J Risk Uncertainty 4, 75–90 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00057887
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00057887