Speaker: Rafael Mesquita Pereira (Federal University of Rio Grande, Brazil)
Date: February 3, 2026 (online)
Time: 12h30
Duration: 40 a 50 minutos
Title: Heterogeneities of the value of a statistical life in Brazil
Brief description of the seminar: The Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) is a well-established metric in the economic literature that captures workers’ willingness to pay to avoid fatal workplace accidents. This measure has been widely employed in countries such as the United States to guide compensation amounts awarded to families of fatal occupational accident victims, as well as in cost–benefit analyses of public policies that estimate the benefits of investments based on the number of lives potentially saved. However, average VSL estimates often mask substantial heterogeneity related to worker characteristics and job attributes, including gender, race, age, industry, and occupational risk history. To address this limitation, the present study seeks to estimate VSL for the Brazilian labor market while accounting for these sources of heterogeneity. The objective is to highlight the need for public policies aimed at reducing yet another dimension of inequality observed in the country.
Session chair: Professor Luís Clemente Casinhas
