Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Economics

School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver

Selected Works

2009

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

A Note On The "Union Effect" In Vsl Studies, Philip E. Graves Jan 2009

A Note On The "Union Effect" In Vsl Studies, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

Viscusi and Aldy (2003) observe that “most studies of the U.S. labor market find that union affiliation is positively correlated with a greater wage-risk tradeoff while international evidence is much more mixed.” They provide several arguments as to why the risk premium might be higher for union members (marginal versus average worker preference, the quasi-public good nature of workplace safety, and better safety information for the unionized). An alternative explanation–concentration of union membership in undesirable locations–can account for both the apparent higher risk premium in union jobs in the United States and the failure to find that gap in the …


Predicting Life Expectancy: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis, Audrey B. Hendricks, Philip E. Graves Jan 2009

Predicting Life Expectancy: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis, Audrey B. Hendricks, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

Most economic research on life expectancy focuses on building forecasting models using mortality trends or constructing parameter life expectancy models with samples of individuals. We here provide a cross-sectional model of life expectancy, using a comprehensive worldwide sample, which analyses the impact of country level variables on average life expectancy. The model variants suggest robustly that proxies for technology, education, disposable income and healthcare all have a significant and positive effect on country variation in average life expectancy, at all income levels. A proxy for the health risks/epidemics factor is significantly negative. This analysis provides information of use to governments, …