Adjusting the Value of a Statistical Life for Age and Cohort Effects
Vanderbilt Law and Economics Research Paper No. 08-01
Resources for the Future Discussion Paper No. 06-19
31 Pages Posted: 26 Apr 2006 Last revised: 27 Nov 2012
Date Written: January 2008
Abstract
To resolve the theoretical ambiguity in the effect of age on the value of statistical life (VSL), this article uses a novel, age-dependent fatal risk measure to estimate age-specific hedonic wage regressions. VSL exhibits an inverted-U shaped relationship with age. In the year 2000 cross-section, workers' VSL rises from $3.7 million (ages 18-24), to $9.7 million (35-44), and declines to $3.4 million (55-62). Controlling for birth-year cohort effects in a minimum distance estimator yields a peak VSL of $7.8 million at age 46, and flattens the VSL-age relationship. The value of statistical life-year also follows an inverted-U shape with age.
Keywords: Value of statistical life, job risks, hedonic wage regression, VSLY
JEL Classification: J17, I12
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Age Variations in Workers' Value of Statistical Life
By Joseph E. Aldy and W. Kip Viscusi
-
Age Variations in Workers' Value of Statistical Life
By Joseph E. Aldy and W. Kip Viscusi
-
Life-Cycle Consumption and the Age-Adjusted Value of Life
By Thomas J. Kniesner, W. Kip Viscusi, ...
-
Life-Cycle Consumption and the Age-Adjusted Value of Life
By Thomas J. Kniesner, James P. Ziliak, ...
-
Age Differences in the Value of Statistical Life: Revealed Preference Evidence
By Joseph E. Aldy and W. Kip Viscusi
-
By Isaac Ehrlich and Yong Yin
-
By Isaac Ehrlich and Yong Yin
-
Labor Market Estimates of the Senior Discount for the Value of Statistical Life
By W. Kip Viscusi and Joseph E. Aldy
-
By W. Kip Viscusi and Joni Hersch
-
U.S. Life Tables for 1990 by Sex, Race, and Education
By Hugh Richards and Ronald Barry