Compensating Wages, Value of a Statistical Life, and Inter-industry Differentials

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) death rates were combined with three national probability samples to investigate compensating wages for hazardous work. Compensating wages were expected in blue-collar male-only samples, but not in male and female clerk samples. The inter-industry differentials hypothesis was investigated by alternately including and excluding dummy variables for broad industry divisions. The inter-industry differentials hypothesis was supported. The BLS and NIOSH death rates cannot be relied on to produce credible estimates of the value of a statistical life.