During the last decade, the distribution of workers compensation claims has exhibited a marked shift towards soft tissue injuries such as sprains, stains, and low back claims. There are three possible explanations for this trend: (1) safety incentives induced by workers compensation or OSHA may...

The factors influencing insurance pricing decisions are assessed using the ISO product liability ratemaking files for 1980-1984. The mean loss level has a strong positive effect on manual rates and premium rates/exposure. Evidence on a variety of ambiguity measures is more mixed. As a broad...

This study provides an empirical perspective on the effect of ambiguous environmental risk information on lottery preferences using a sample of 646 adults. The learning process follows a Bayesian expected utility model in terms of the overall magnitude and sign of the weights that respondents...

This article develops a variant of the expected utility model termed prospective reference theory. Although the standard model occurs as a limiting case, the general approach is that individuals treat stated experimental probabilities as imperfect information. This model is applied to a wide...

The level of asbestos risk varies widely, with insulation workers facing risks many orders of magnitude greater than other groups, such as school children. After a period of regulatory neglect, asbestos risks are now among the most stringently regulated risks, with costs per case of cancer...

This article constructs measures of job fatality rates for black and white workers using information on job-related fatalities from 1992-1997. The fatality rates for black employees are somewhat greater than those for whites. Each of these groups receives significant compensating wage...

This paper uses a Bayesian learning model to assess the respective influence of different risk measurements on mortality risk perceptions. People form risk beliefs using several sources of information, including the actual population mean death risk level the discounted lost life expectancy, and...

Our survey results demonstrate that targeted screening of airline passengers raises conflicting concerns of efficiency and equity. Support for profiling increases if there is a substantial reduction in avoided delays to other passengers. The time cost and benefit components of targeting affect...