Abstract
According to classical economic theory, the existence of some jobs which are more hazardous than others does not constitute a social inequity. After all, movie stuntmen, coal miners, and high-rise construction workers appear to be well compensated. This means, according to the theory, that workers are free to choose among occupations so as to balance their desire for income against their desire for safety.
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Notes
J. B. Revelle and Robin Bates, ‘OSHA — Still Not Enough’, Professional Safety (April 1977): 42.
M. Douglas and A. Wildavsky, Risk and Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), p. 9; hereafter cited as: RAC.
W. K. Viscusi, Risk by Choice (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983), pp. 114–115, 136; hereafter cited as: RBC. For an excellent treatment of the history of occupational risk and disease, see D.M. Berman, Death on the Job (London: Monthly Review Press, 1978); hereafter cited as: DOJ. See also the numerous case studies in L. B. Lave, ed., Quantitative Risk Assessment in Regulation (Washington, D.C.; Brookings Institution, 1982), chapters 3–8; hereafter cited as: QRA.
R. W. Kates, Risk Assessment of Environmental Hazards (New York: Wiley, 1975), pp. 46–47; hereafter cited as: RA.
C. Starr and C. Whipple, ‘Risks of Risk Decision’, Science 208/4448 (6 June 1980): 1115–1117; hereafter cited as: Risk. Finally, see also B. Fischhoff, P. Slovic, S. Lichtenstein, S. Read, and B. Combs, ‘How Safe is Safe Enough?’ Policy Sciences 9, no. 2 (1978): 140–142, 148–150; hereafter cited as: Fischhoff, Safe.
M. W. Jones-Lee, The Value of Life: An Economic Analysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), p. 39; Eckholm, Jobs, pp. 33–34. See Starr, Philosophy, pp. 15 ff., and Viscusi RBC, p. 46.
John Egerton, ‘Appalachia’s Absentee Landlords’, The Progressive 45, no. 6 (June 1981): 43–45, and J. Gaventa, W. Horton, and the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force, Land Ownership Patterns and Their Impacts on Appalachian Communities, vol. 1 (Washington, D.C.: Appalachian Regional Commission, 1981), pp. 25–59, 210–211.
J. Rawls, A Theory of Justice ( Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1971 ), p. 87.
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© 1988 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Shrader-Frechette, K. (1988). Public and Occupational Risk: The Double Standard. In: Durbin, P.T. (eds) Technology and Contemporary Life. Philosophy and Technology, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3951-6_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3951-6_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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