Abstract
The level of asbestos risk varies widely, with insulation workers facing risks many orders of magnitude greater than other groups, such as school children. After a period of regulatory neglect, asbestos risks are now among the mos stringently regulated risks, with costs per case of cancer prevented on the order of $100 million. Asbestos litigation triggered much of the public action against asbestos, as asbestos cases constituted the majority of all product liability cases in the federal courts from 1988 to 1991. The litigation costs have, however, been substantial, almost three times as great as the amounts transferred to asbestos disease victims. Risk communication potentially could promote efficient risk levels and victim compensation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bureau of National Affairs. (1990).Product Safety and Liability Reporter, June 8, 644.
Bureau of National Affairs. (1989).Product Safety and Liability Reporter, September 15 901–902.
Bureau of National Affairs. (1988).Product Safety and Liability Reporter, December 9, 1194–1195.
D'AgostinoJr., R.B. and R., Wilson. (1993) “Asbestos: The Hazard, the Risk, and Public Policy,” InPhantom Risk: Scientific Inference and the Law. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Doll, R. (1955). “Mortality From Lung Cancer in Asbestos Workers,”British Journal of Industrial Medicine 12, 81–86.
Kakalik, J.S. et al. (1983)Costs of Asbestos Litigation, RAND Corporation Institute for Civil Justice, R-3042-ICJ. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.
Larson, Arthur. (1992).Workmens' Compensation Law. New York, NY: M. Bender.
MacAvoy, P., J., Karr, and P., Wilson. (1982). “The Economic Consequences of Asbestos-Related Disease.” Working Paper No. 27, Yale School of Organization and Management, New Haven, CT.
Moore, M.J. and W.K., Viscusi. (1990).Compensation Mechanisms for Job Risks: Wages, Workers' Compensation, and Product Liability. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Morrall, J.F.III. (1986). “A Review of the Record,”Regulation 10(2), 13–24, 30–34.
Mossman, B.T., J., Bignon, M., Corn, A., Seaton, J.B.L., Gee. (1990). “Asbestos: Scientific Developments and Implications for Public Policy,”Science 247, 294–300.
Note. (1980). “Compensating Victims of Occupational Disease,”Harvard Law Review 93, 923.
Priest, G.L. (1987). “The Current Insurance Crisis and Modern Tort Law,”Yale Law Journal 96, 1521–1590.
Seliokoff, Irving. (1982). “Disability Compensation for Asbestos-Associated Disease in the United States.” Report prepared for the U.S. Department of Labor.
Sinfield, Nick. (1994). “Asbestos—Human or Natural Disaster.” Paper prepared for Stanford University Conference on Social Policy Toward Catastrophic Risk.
Smith, Robert. (1976).The Occupational Safety and Health Act: Its Goals and Achievements. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.
U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. (1984).Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1984. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce. (1993).Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1993. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
U.S. Department of Labor. (1980).An Interim Report to Congress on Occupational Diseases. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Viscusi, W. Kip. (1979).Employment Hazards: An Investigation of Market Performance, Harvard Economic Studies No. 148. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Viscusi, W. Kip. (1983)Risk by Choice: Regulating Health and Safety in the Workplace. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Viscusi, W. Kip. (1992).Fatal Tradeoffs: Public and Private Responsibilities for Risk. New York: Oxford University Press.
Viscusi, W. Kip. (1993). “The Value of Risks to Life and Health,”Journal of Economic Literature 31(4), 1912–1946.
Viscusi, W. Kip, and Charles, O'Connor. (1984). “Adaptive Responses to Chemical Labeling: Are Workers Bayesian Decision Makers?”American Economic Review 74 (5), 942–956.
Additional information
Duke University
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Viscusi, W.K. Alternative institutional responses to asbestos. J Risk Uncertainty 12, 147–170 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055791
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00055791