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Estimating the Value of a Statistical Life: The Importance of Omitted Variables and Publication Bias

Orley Ashenfelter
Princeton University - Industrial Relations Section; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

Michael Greenstone
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); American Bar Foundation

March 2004

AEI-Brookings Paper No. 04-06; IZA Discussion Paper No. 1037; Princeton IR Paper No. 479; Princeton Law & Public Affairs Paper No. 04-008

Abstract:
In this paper we show that omitted variables and publication bias lead to severely biased estimates of the value of a statistical life. Although our empirical results are obtained in the context of a study of choices about road safety, we suspect that the same issues plague the estimation of monetary trade-offs regarding safety in other contexts.

Keywords: statistical life, publication bias, omitted variables

JEL Classifications: J17, C8, H43, I18, R4

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Orley C. Ashenfelter (Contact Author) Princeton University - Industrial Relations Section ( email ) Princeton, NJ 08544-2098 United States 609-258-4040 (Phone) 609-258-2907 (Fax)
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 United States
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) P.O. Box 7240 D-53072 Bonn Germany
Michael Greenstone Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics ( email ) 50 Memorial Drive Cambridge, MA 02142 United States
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 United States
American Bar Foundation 750 N. Lake Shore Drive Chicago, IL 60611 United States