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Precautionary Behavior and Willingness to Pay for a Mortality Risk Reduction:Searching for the Expected Relationship

Author

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  • Svensson, Mikael

    (Department of Business, Economics, Statistics and Informatics)

Abstract

This paper examines within-sample correlation between six different precautionary behaviors and willingness to pay for a mortality risk reduction. The paper also shows estimates of the value of a statistical life based on seat belt and bicycle helmet usage as well as based on the stated willingness to pay for a risk reduction in traffic mortality. Contrary to the theoretical expectations, no correlation is found between precautionary behavior and willingness to pay, which is problematic for the validity of contingent valuation answers. One major explanation is that females and the elderly take more precaution, but states a lower WTP for a risk reduction. The estimates of VSL from the different approaches are $11.0, $6.4 and $5.5 million from stated WTP, seat belt use and bicycle helmet use, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Svensson, Mikael, 2007. "Precautionary Behavior and Willingness to Pay for a Mortality Risk Reduction:Searching for the Expected Relationship," Working Papers 2007:3, Örebro University, School of Business, revised 09 Sep 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2007_003
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lars Hultkrantz & Gunnar Lindberg & Camilla Andersson, 2006. "The value of improved road safety," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 151-170, March.
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    4. Krupnick, Alan & Alberini, Anna & Cropper, Maureen & Simon, Nathalie & O'Brien, Bernie & Goeree, Ron & Heintzelman, Martin, 2002. "Age, Health and the Willingness to Pay for Mortality Risk Reductions: A Contingent Valuation Survey of Ontario Residents," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 161-186, March.
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    17. Ted Gayer & James T. Hamilton & W. Kip Viscusi, 2002. "The Market Value of Reducing Cancer Risk: Hedonic Housing Prices with Changing Information," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 69(2), pages 266-289, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Andersson, Henrik & Hultkrantz, Lars & Lindberg, Gunnar & Nilsson, Jan-Eric, 2017. "The role of economic analysis for investment priorities in Sweden’s transport sector," Working papers in Transport Economics 2017:12, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI), revised 23 May 2018.
    2. Andersson, Henrik, 2013. "Consistency in preferences for road safety: An analysis of precautionary and stated behavior," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 41-49.
    3. Hultkrantz, Lars & Svensson, Mikael, 2012. "The value of a statistical life in Sweden: A review of the empirical literature," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 302-310.
    4. Courard-Hauri David & Lauer Stephen A., 2012. "Taking "All Men Are Created Equal" Seriously: Toward a Metric for the Intergroup Comparison of Utility Functions Through Life Values," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-30, August.
    5. Andrea M. Leiter & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2014. "Timing Effects In Health Valuations," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(6), pages 743-750, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Value of a Statistical Life; Revealed Preference; Stated Preference; Risk Behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D60 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - General
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

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