Safety at Work: Long-Term Trends and the Role of Institutions

Each year, approximately 4 million American workers experience workplace accidents. Occupational injury is prevalent and can have dramatic consequences for workers’ health and labor market outcomes. The purpose of this study is to provide new evidence on the dynamics of occupational injuries, their evolution over recent decades, and the role of institutions in mitigating their effects. Building on historical, administrative, and survey data from the United States and France, the first part of the project provides new facts on who is most exposed to occupational injuries, what the consequences are for labor market trajectories, and the long-term trends in workplace injuries. The second part of the project explores the role of institutions, including worker representation, safety committees, and taxation, in fostering safer work environments. By leveraging firm-size discontinuities and administrative data on occupational injuries, this analysis quantifies the causal effects of experience rating and worker representation on workplace safety.