Men and women who work in industries where there is greater risk of sexual harassment are paid more than those in occupations where the risk is low, according to research from Vanderbilt University Law School.

“I was extremely surprised to find how robust the pay premium is with risk of sexual harassment,” said Joni Hersch, professor of law and economics at Vanderbilt.

While controlling for all other variables, Hersch found that women in fields where there is greater risk of sexual harassment earned an extra .25 cents an hour on average. Men earned an extra .50 an hour, which reflects the higher wages men earn generally.

“These results are net of other characteristics associated with increased pay,” said Hersch.

Hersch used computer software to crunch the data from nearly half a million employment discrimination complaints filed with federal and state authorities in the U.S. from 2000-2004. About one-sixth were for sexual harassment. After rejecting those with incomplete data, she ended up with 50,000 individual complaints.

The industries with the highest risk of sexual harassment for women were mining, with a rate of 71 reports per 100,000 workers, followed by construction with 20, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting with 18 and transportation and utilities with 17. The lowest was education and health services with 3.62.

It’s very unusual to find industries paying premiums for any kind of working conditions, except for places where risk of injury and death are higher, says Hersch. She says her research shows that sexual harassment is in the same league.

Industries where the risk of sexual harassment is high must pay more to attract and retain good employees, she said.

Men were far less likely to be sexually harassed. The highest incidence among men was reported in the information industry, with three reports per 100,000.

Hersch cautioned that paying a higher salary doesn’t absolve companies of keeping the workplace free of sexual harassment, nor is she suggesting that women should or stay in a workplace where they are being sexually harassed.

However she fears that in a fragile economy women may be less inclined to file a report, especially since workplace retaliation is a common response.