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Fair innings? The utilitarian and prioritarian value of risk reduction over a whole lifetime

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  • Adler, Matthew D.
  • Ferranna, Maddalena
  • Hammitt, James K.
  • Treich, Nicolas

Abstract

The social value of risk reduction (SVRR) is the marginal social value of reducing an individual’s fatality risk, as measured by some social welfare function (SWF). This Article investigates SVRR, using a lifetime utility model in which individuals are differentiated by age, lifetime income profile, and lifetime risk profile. We consider both the utilitarian SWF and a “prioritarian” SWF, which applies a strictly increasing and strictly concave transformation to individual utility.

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  • Adler, Matthew D. & Ferranna, Maddalena & Hammitt, James K. & Treich, Nicolas, 2021. "Fair innings? The utilitarian and prioritarian value of risk reduction over a whole lifetime," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:75:y:2021:i:c:s0167629620310584
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102412
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    Cited by:

    1. James K. Hammitt, 2020. "Valuing mortality risk in the time of COVID-19," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 129-154, October.
    2. Hansen, Kristian S. & Moreno-Ternero, Juan D. & Østerdal, Lars P., 2023. "Productivity and quality-adjusted life years: QALYs, PALYs and beyond," Working Papers 11-2023, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    3. Christian Gollier, 2020. "If the Objective is Herd Immunity, on Whom Should it be Built?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 671-683, August.
    4. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones & Peter J. Klenow, 2020. "Trading Off Consumption and COVID-19 Deaths," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 42(1), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Adler, Matthew D. & Ferranna, Maddalena & Hammitt, James K. & Treich, Nicolas, 2021. "Fair innings? The utilitarian and prioritarian value of risk reduction over a whole lifetime," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Hammitt, James K., 2022. "Prevention, Treatment, and Palliative Care: The Relative Value of Health Improvements under Alternative Evaluation Frameworks," TSE Working Papers 22-1339, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    7. Charles Shaw & Silvio Vanadia, 2022. "Utilitarianism on the front lines: COVID-19, public ethics, and the "hidden assumption" problem," Papers 2205.01957, arXiv.org.
    8. Bloom, David & Ferranna, Maddalena & Sevilla, JP, 2021. "Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing Alternative Value Frameworks," CEPR Discussion Papers 15904, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Martin F Quaas & Jasper N Meya & Hanna Schenk & Björn Bos & Moritz A Drupp & Till Requate, 2021. "The social cost of contacts: Theory and evidence for the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-29, March.
    10. Nadia J. Sweis, 2022. "Revisiting the value of a statistical life: an international approach during COVID-19," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(3), pages 259-272, September.
    11. Hammitt, James K. & Treich, Nicolas, 2021. "Fatality Risk Regulation," TSE Working Papers 21-1177, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    12. Martin F. Quaas & Jasper N. Meya & Hanna Schenk & Björn Bos & Moritz A. Drupp & Till Requate, 2020. "The Social Cost of Contacts: Theory and Evidence for the Covid-19 Pandemic in Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 8347, CESifo.
    13. Maddalena Ferranna & JP Sevilla & David E. Bloom, 2021. "Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing Alternative Value Frameworks," NBER Working Papers 28601, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Hammitt, James K., 2022. "Prevention, treatment, and palliative care: The relative value of health improvements under alternative evaluation frameworks," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    15. Ferranna, Maddalena & Sevilla, J.P. & Bloom, David E., 2021. "Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing Alternative Value Frameworks," IZA Discussion Papers 14181, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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