Citation

Strawiński P, Celińska-Kopczyńska D. Safety Sci. 2019; 118: 337-344.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2019.04.041

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines the occupational injury wage premium and its influence on the gender wage gap. To this end, we quantify the part of the wage premium that may be the result of occupational risk, and then estimate the share of the gender wage gap attributed to occupational risk. Existing studies on occupational risk and its influence on the economy are limited by the availability of data. As a result, the findings related to the injury risk wage premium are inconsistent. We use a detailed, disaggregated data set on accidents at work and calculate the accident risks for groups of occupations. Then, we estimate an extended wage equation and perform the Oaxaca-Blinder wage decomposition. Wage compensation for non-serious accident risk is negative, but is positive for serious accident risk. However, the results for fatal accident risks are inconclusive. Furthermore, the accident risk accounts for 15%-30% of the explained wage gap between men and women. Our findings resolve the inconsistent results in the literature on the relation between occupational injury risk and wages. Our results suggest that personal perceptions of occupational risk are inaccurate, perhaps because workers are usually fully informed about work-related risks only after wage negotiations are concluded and a contract is signed.

Language: en