Root-Cause Regulation: Protecting Work and Workers the Twenty-First Century

Work is now more deadly than war, killing approximately 2.3 million people a year worldwide. The United States, with its complex regulatory system, has one of the highest rates of occupational fatality in the developed world, and deteriorating working conditions more generally. Why, after a century of reform, are U.S. workers growing less safe and secure? Comparing U.S. regulatory practices to their European and Latin American counterparts, provides insight into the causes of this downward trend and ways to reverse it, offering lessons for rich and poor countries alike.