Unbearable Burdens--Value of Statistical Life Based on the Cost of Fatal Occupational Injuries in China
Read
DownLoad |
| Title | Unbearable Burdens--Value of Statistical Life Based on the Cost of Fatal Occupational Injuries in China
|
| Author | Zhang Guosheng,Chen Ying and Chen Mingming |
| Organization | Yunnan University |
| Email | zhangguosheng@ynu.edu.cn； |
| Key Words | Life Value; Hedonic Wage Model; VSL; Cost of Occupational Injuries |
| Abstract | Guided by the life value theory and based on the data from China Family Panel Studies (2010) and The Safe Production Statistics Yearbook (2009), this study utilizes the hedonic wage model to evaluate the value of statistical life (VSL) of Chinese laborers in 2010.The linear model estimation of the level of fatal risks on the wage level shows that the VSL of laborers is 3.57 million yuan; the quantile evaluation shows that the VSL of 50% laborers from the middle-income group is 5.13 million yuan; and the provincial data estimation shows that the VSL of laborers is 10.5 million yuan. These figures are on average higher than the actual compensation for the work-related deaths of Chinese laborers, which triggers an unbearable burden of occupational injuries at present, that is, the cost of occupational injuries externally born by the whole society is much higher than the actual one born by enterprises. The correction of the under-evaluated cost of occupational injuries requires to change China’s compensation for occupational injuries from the idea of maintaining a certain standard of living for laborers and their families to the idea of improving the standard of living for laborers and their families by compensation. It is necessary to significantly enhance the compensation standard of laborers’ death to 5 million yuan and to establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism in line with the growth of revenue. |
| Serial Number | WP1227 |
| Time | 2017-10-11 |
|