Aggregation Biases in Estimates of the Value per Statistical Life: Evidence from Longitudinal Matched Worker-Firm Data in Taiwan

作者：Tsai Wehn Jyuan; Liu Jin Tan; Hammitt James K^*

来源：Environmental and Resource Economics, 2011, 49(3): 425-443.

DOI：10.1007/s10640-010-9440-z

• Value per statistical life
• Firm-level risk data
• Linked employer-employee data

This study uses a unique longitudinally-linked employer-employee dataset to estimate the magnitude of bias in estimating the value per statistical life (VSL) that arises from the conventional use of industry-average occupational risk. This unique dataset, covering workers in Taiwan over the period 1998-2002, allows us to distinguish among potential sources of bias including omitted variables and to control for the potential endogeneity of firm-specific job risk with respect to unobserved worker and firm characteristics. We find that VSL estimates based on risk data aggregated by three-digit manufacturing SIC codes are biased downward by an order of magnitude compared with estimates using firm-specific risk that control for endogeneity.

• 出版日期2011-7