Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions: Progress and Challenges
Resources for the Future Discussion Paper No. 11-10
34 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2011
There are 3 versions of this paper
Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions: Progress and Challenges
Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions: Progress and Challenges
Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions: Progress and Challenges
Date Written: March 17, 2011
Abstract
The value of mortality risk reduction is an important component of the benefits of environmental policies. In recent years, the number, scope, and quality of valuation studies have increased dramatically. Revealed preference studies of wage compensation for occupational risks, on which analysts have primarily relied, have benefited from improved data and statistical methods. Stated preference research has improved methodologically and expanded dramatically. Studies are now available for several health conditions associated with environmental causes, and researchers have explored many issues concerning the validity of the estimates. With the growing numbers of both types of studies, several meta-analyses have become available that provide insight into the results of both methods. Challenges remain, including better understanding of the persistently smaller estimates from stated preference than from wage differential studies and of how valuation depends on the individual’s age, health status, and characteristics of the illnesses most frequently associated with environmental causes.
Keywords: value of a statistical life, mortality risk reduction, hedonic wage studies, stated preference studies
JEL Classification: Q50, Q51, Q58
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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