Estimating the Value of Statistical Life in Pakistan

The study estimates the Value of Statistical Life and Limb in Pakistan based on the compensating wage differential among blue-collar industrial workers in the city of Lahore. The data for this study is from a survey of 680 workers who were above eighteen years of age with at least one year's work experience. According to the study, the Value of Statistical Life (VSL) in Pakistan ranges from PKR 28 million (USD 321,813) to PKR 67 million (USD 775,193). The variation in the results has to do with the use of different risk measures, that is, actual and perceived risk measures in alternative regression equations. These estimates are consistent with values obtained from studies undertaken in other developing countries. The author concludes that the industrial workers of the formal sector in Pakistan are rational in that they factor in risk when accepting a job.