Berkowitz M
Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 1979 May(443):41-53.
Work accidents became a matter of societal concern in the Progressive era of Woodrow Wilson. When other contingencies of modern life were brought under social security in the New Deal reforms of the 1930s, work accident legislation remained separate. One possible reason was that work accidents can be controlled within industrial and chance limits. But control does not imply elimination since a risk-free environment would paralyze production. In spite of imperfections caused by low benefits and imperfect insurance arrangements, the workers' compensation legislation does help internalize the costs of accidents, but internalization of costs is only one remedy. Regulation and a much broader community responsibility are others. It is argued that regulation poses greater problems and that broader community responsibility may evade the issues involved in choosing the appropriate tradeoff point between production and health which will maximize social welfare.
在伍德罗·威尔逊的进步时代，工伤事故成为社会关注的问题。20世纪30年代新政改革将现代生活的其他意外情况纳入社会保障体系时，工伤事故立法仍独立存在。一个可能的原因是，工伤事故可以在工业和概率范围内得到控制。但控制并不意味着消除，因为无风险的环境会使生产陷入瘫痪。尽管低福利和不完善的保险安排存在缺陷，但工人赔偿立法确实有助于将事故成本内部化，但成本内部化只是一种补救措施。监管和更广泛的社区责任是其他措施。有人认为，监管带来的问题更大，而更广泛的社区责任可能会回避在生产与健康之间选择适当权衡点以实现社会福利最大化所涉及的问题。
