Johansson-Stenman, Olof () (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) Mahmud, Minhaj (Queen’s University Belfast) Martinsson, Peter () (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)
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Using a random sample of individuals in rural Bangladesh, this paper investigates people’s preferences regarding relative values of lives when it comes to different ages of the individuals being saved. By assuming that an individual has preferences concerning different states of the world, and that these preferences can be described by an individual social welfare function, the individuals’ preferences for life-saving programs are elicited using a pair-wise choice experiment between different life-saving programs. In the analyses, we calculate the social marginal rates of substitution between saved lives of people of different ages. We also test whether people have preferences for saving more life-years rather than only saving lives. In particular, we test and compare the two hypotheses that only lives matter and that only life-years matter. The results indicate that the value of a saved life decreases rapidly with age and that people have strong preferences for saving life-years rather than lives per se. Overall, the results clearly show the importance of the number of life-years saved in the valuation of life.
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Paper provided by Göteborg University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers in Economics with number
389.
Length: 31 pages Date of creation: 19 Oct 2009 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0389
Contact details of provider: Postal: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University Box 640, SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden Phone: 031-773 10 00 Web page: http://www.handels.gu.se/econ/ More information through EDIRC
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
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