Is workplace safety everybody's business? Experimental evidence on prevention information, accidents and compensating wage differentials in SMEs

Brahm, F, Lafortunez, J and Tessada, J (2022) Is workplace safety everybody's business? Experimental evidence on prevention information, accidents and compensating wage differentials in SMEs. Working Paper. London Business School Working Paper.

Abstract

We randomly distributed safety information to SMEs –three different sets to managers and one to workers. Only prevention information provided to workers reduced accidents and increased prevention, specially the type underscored by our treatment. Results are substantial and longlasting. We find larger impacts for firms with more preintervention manager involvement, suggesting that making safety “everybody’s business” is critical. We also document lower wages in firms where prevention information was given to workers and used the experiment to estimate a compensating wage differential, which is larger than those from hedonic studies.