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Changes in the Value of Life, 1940--1980

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  • Dora L. Costa

    ()

  • Matthew E. Kahn

Abstract

We present the first nationwide value of life estimates for the United States at more than one point in time. Our estimates are for every ten years between 1940 and 1980, a period when declines in fatal accident rates were historically unprecedented. Our estimated elasticity of value of life with respect to per capita GNP is 1.5 to 1.7. We illustrate the importance of rising value of life for policy evaluation by examining the benefits of improved longevity since 1900. Our estimated elasticity implies that the current marginal increase in longevity is more valuable than the large increase in the first half of the twentieth century.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Springer in its journal Journal of Risk and Uncertainty.

Volume (Year): 29 (2004)
Issue (Month): 2 (09)
Pages: 159-180

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Handle: RePEc:kap:jrisku:v:29:y:2004:i:2:p:159-180

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Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=100299

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Citations

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Progress
    by Matthew E. Kahn in The Reality-Based Community on 2013-02-12 15:05:47
  2. Some Simple Game Theory Applied to Pollution Problems in China
    by Matthew E. Kahn in Environmental and Urban Economics on 2012-02-05 16:16:00
  3. The Future of the EPA
    by Matthew E. Kahn in the reality-based community on 2011-08-25 18:10:15
  4. The Environmental Benefits of China's One Child Policy
    by Matthew E. Kahn in Environmental and Urban Economics on 2012-05-05 22:25:00
  5. Self Selection and Diverse Views Over Sea Level Rise in North Carolina
    by Matthew E. Kahn in Environmental and Urban Economics on 2012-06-23 17:58:00
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:
  1. Hammitt, James K. & Robinson, Lisa A., 2011. "The Income Elasticity of the Value per Statistical Life: Transferring Estimates Between High and Low Income Populations," Open Access publications from University of Toulouse 1 Capitole http://neeo.univ-tlse1.fr, University of Toulouse 1 Capitole.
  2. Anna Alberini, 2005. "Robustness of VSL Values from Contingent Valuation Surveys," NCEE Working Paper Series 200501, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised Jan 2005.
  3. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn & Hongyu Liu, 2009. "Towards a System of Open Cities in China: Home Prices, FDI Flows and Air Quality in 35 Major Cities," NBER Working Papers 14751, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. Andreas Kuhn & Oliver Ruf, 2009. "The Value of a Statistical Injury: New Evidence from the Swiss Labor Market," NRN working papers 2009-15, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
  5. Rohlfs, Chris & Sullivan, Ryan & Kniesner, Thomas J., 2012. "New Estimates of the Value of a Statistical Life Using Air Bag Regulations as a Quasi-Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 6994, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Hammitt, James & Roman, Henry & Stieb, David & Walsh, Tyra, 2012. "Expert Elicitation of the Value per Statistical Life in an Air Pollution Context," TSE Working Papers 12-290, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
  7. Ryan D. Edwards, 2008. "The Cost of Uncertain Life Span," NBER Working Papers 14093, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Mary Evans & V. Smith, 2010. "Measuring how risk tradeoffs adjust with income," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 33-55, February.
  9. Matthew A Cole & Robert J R Elliott & Joanne K Lindley, 2009. "Dirty Money: Is there a Wage Premium for Working in a Pollution Intensive Industry," Discussion Papers 09-13, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
  10. Ryan D. Edwards, 2010. "U.S. War Costs: Two Parts Temporary, One Part Permanent," NBER Working Papers 16108, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  11. Stefan Felder, 2006. "Lebenserwartung, medizinischer Fortschritt und Gesundheitsausgaben: Theorie und Empirie," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(s1), pages 49-73, 05.
  12. Jonathan F. Fox, 2011. "Public health, poor relief and improving urban child mortality outcomes in the decade prior to the New Deal," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2011-005, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
  13. Andreea Balan-Cohen, 2008. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise? The Impact of the Old Age Assistance Program on Elderly Mortality in the United States," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 0719, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
  14. Charles I. Jones, 2011. "Life and Growth," NBER Working Papers 17094, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  15. Thomas DeLeire & Christopher Timmins, 2008. "Roy Model Sorting and Non-Random Selection in the Valuation of a Statistical Life," NBER Working Papers 14364, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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