Is There a Danger Premium for Jobs?

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Over at Alas, a Blog, there’s yet another post in ampersand’s marvelous series on the wage gap between men and women. This one attacks the myth, often touted by conservatives, that women earn less than men because they don’t work in dangerous “manly” fields. But, amp finds, there’s no actual wage premium for dangerous jobs.

From a free market point of view, that’s unexpected; you’d think that in a perfectly functioning labor market employers would need to offer higher pay to attract workers into dangerous fields like mining or forestry, jobs where there’s a chance of getting injured, maimed, or even killed. But no. Markets aren’t working perfectly here, either because workers don’t always get an optimal choice of what jobs to take, or because workers can’t assess the risk involved in the work they’re doing, or other factors. Not surprisingly, though, the “risk premium” reappears for unionized workers. Interesting post, worth reading in full.

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That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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