The price of stress

In this paper an economic approach is taken to the analysis of work-related stress. This economic approach not only allows us to infer the monetary eq uivalent of stress, it also enables us to test some of the psychological th eories on stress, such as the demand/control theory. Evidence is found that the allocation of male workers is based on comparative advantages, while t he allocation of female workers is based on absolute advantages. For males, but not for females, it is found that if work with stress pays more relati ve to work without stress, workers are more likely to accept a job with str ess. It is further found that job demands affect work-related stress more t han aspects of job control. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved. JEL classification. J24; J31.