Complementarity and the Measurement of Individual Risk Tradeoffs: Accounting for Quantity and Quality of Life Effects

41 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2008 Last revised: 31 Dec 2022

See all articles by Mary F. Evans

Mary F. Evans

Claremont McKenna College - Robert Day School of Economics and Finance

V. Kerry Smith

Arizona State University (ASU) - Economics Department; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: January 2008

Abstract

This paper considers the factors responsible for differences with age in estimates of the wage compensation an individual requires to accept increased occupational fatality risk. We derive a relationship between the value of a statistical life (VSL) and the degree of complementarity between consumption and labor supplied when health status serves as a potential source of variation in this relationship. Our empirical analysis finds that variations in an individual's health status or quality of life and anticipated longevity threats lead to significant differences in the estimated wage/risk tradeoffs. We describe how extensions to the specification of hedonic wage models, including measures for quality of life and anticipated longevity threats, help to explain the diversity in past studies examining how the estimated wage-risk tradeoff changes with age.

Suggested Citation

Evans, Mary F. and Smith, V. Kerry, Complementarity and the Measurement of Individual Risk Tradeoffs: Accounting for Quantity and Quality of Life Effects (January 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w13722, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1082701

Mary F. Evans

Claremont McKenna College - Robert Day School of Economics and Finance ( email )

500 E. Ninth St.
Claremont, CA 91711-6420
United States
909.607.3423 (Phone)

V. Kerry Smith (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) - Economics Department ( email )

Tempe, AZ 85287-3806
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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