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WORK‐RELATED ACCIDENTS AND THE LEVEL OF MARKET COMPETITION: AN ANALYSIS OF WORKER INJURY RATES AT U.S. STEEL CORPORATION, 1907–1939
Author(s) -
DECKER CHRISTOPHER S.,
FLYNN DAVID T.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2007.00099.x
Subject(s) - competitor analysis , corporation , competition (biology) , market share , work (physics) , accident (philosophy) , economics , market structure , business , industrial organization , finance , engineering , management , mechanical engineering , ecology , philosophy , epistemology , biology
We investigate the relationship between accident rates and industry structure for the United States’ steel industry during the first four decades of the 20th century. We develop a dominant firm theoretical model linking accident rates to number of competitors, showing a positive correlation between accident avoidance and the number of fringe competitors. We then test this theory empirically and, when controlling for other influences, find that reductions in the dominant firm’s market share reduce worker injury rates substantially. ( JEL L13, L61, N62, N82)