Recessions Are Bad for Workplace Safety

Abstract

Workplace accidents are an important economic phenomenon. Yet, the pro-cyclical fluctuations in workplace accidents are not well understood. They could be related to fluctuations in effort and working hours, but workplace accidents may also be affected by reporting behavior. Our paper uses unique data on workplace accidents from an Austrian matched worker-firm dataset to study in detail how economic incentives affect workplace accidents. We find that workers who reported an accident in a particular period of time are more likely to be fired later on. And, we find support for the idea that recessions influence the reporting of moderate workplace accidents: if workers think the probability of dismissals at the firm level is high, they are less likely to report a moderate workplace accident.

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Impacts of Recent Reforms

“…Numerous studies have documented that the incidence rate of workers' compensation claims is related to the business cycle (Boone and van Ours 2006, Asfaw, PanaCryan et al 2011, Boone, Van Ours et al 2011. 28 These studies tend to find that business cycle effects are less pronounced or non-existent for fatal and severe injuries.…”

Evaluation of the Return-to-Work Fund in California's Workers' Compensation System: Performance to Date and Options for Modification

“…The covered workforce is, by definition, pro-cyclical, and the injury rate among covered workers is also typically pro-cyclical (Boone and Ours, 2006;Boone et al, 2011;Asfaw, Pana-Cryan, and Rosa, 2011). However, prior work establishes that PD claim incidence rates appear to be less sensitive to the business cycle.…”

“…Estimates from WCIRB (2016a) indicate that the severity distribution among indemnity claims has been relatively stable since 2008 and that the incidence rate of high-severity claims has been more stable than the rate of low-severity claims. Research by Boone et al (2011) shows that the pro-cyclicality of workers' compensation claim rates is driven less by changes in safety over the business cycle than by the fact that workers with lower severity injuries are deterred from filing claims when unemployment rates are high.…”

Benefits and Earnings Losses for Permanently Disabled Workers in California: Trends Through the Great Recession and Effects of Recent Reforms

“…Numerous studies have documented that the incidence rate of workers' compensation claims is related to the business cycle (Boone and van Ours, 2006;Asfaw, Pana-Cryan, and Rosa, 2011;Boone et al, 2011). 10 These studies tend to find that business cycle effects are less pronounced or non ex is tent for fatal and severe injuries.…”