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Altruism, Fertility, and the Value of Children: Health Policy Evaluation and Intergenerational Welfare

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Author Info
Javier A. Birchenall () (University of California, Santa Barbara)
Rodrigo R. Soares () (University of Maryland, Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, NBER and IZA)

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Abstract

This paper accounts for the value of children and future generations in the evaluation of health policies. This is achieved through the incorporation of altruism and fertility in a "value of life" type of framework. We are able to express adults’ willingness to pay for changes in child mortality and also to incorporate the welfare of future generations in the evaluation of current policies. Our model clarifies a series of puzzles from the literature on the "value of life" and on intergenerational welfare comparisons. We show that, by incorporating altruism and fertility into the analysis, the estimated welfare gain from recent reductions in mortality in the U.S. easily doubles.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2783.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: May 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2783

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Related research
Keywords: value of life mortality fertility altruism intergenerational welfare willingness to pay

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J17 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Value of Life; Foregone Income
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Gary S. Becker & Robert J. Barro, 1988. "A Reformulation of the Economic Theory of Fertility," NBER Working Papers 1793, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Jin-Tan Liu & James K. Hammitt & Jung-Der Wang & Jin-Long Liu, 2000. "Mother's willingness to pay for her own and her child's health: a contingent valuation study in Taiwan," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(4), pages 319-326.
  3. Joyce, Theodore J. & Grossman, Michael & Goldman, Fred, 1989. "An assessment of the benefits of air pollution control: The case of infant health," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 32-51, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Rosen, Sherwin, 1988. " The Value of Changes in Life Expectancy," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 285-304, September.
    Other versions:
  5. Angus Deaton, 2004. "Health in an Age of Globalization," NBER Working Papers 10669, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Gary S. Becker & Tomas J. Philipson & Rodrigo R. Soares, 2005. "The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 277-291, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, 2002. "Does the Mortality Decline Promote Economic Growth?," Macroeconomics 0212008, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Theodore C. Bergstrom, 2006. "Benefit-Cost in a Benevolent Society," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 339-351, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Ted Bergstrom, 1982. "When is a Man's Life Worth More Than His Human Capital?," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series 1982d, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara. [Downloadable!]
  10. Cropper, Maureen L & Aydede, Sema K & Portney, Paul R, 1992. "Rates of Time Preference for Saving Lives," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 469-72, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Mikhail Golosov & Larry E. Jones & Michèle Tertilt, 2007. "Efficiency with Endogenous Population Growth," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1039-1071, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Cropper, Maureen L & Sussman, Frances G, 1988. "Families and the Economics of Risks to Life," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 255-60, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. W. Kip Viscusi & Wesley A. Magat & Joel Huber, 1987. "An Investigation of the Rationality of Consumer Valuations of Multiple Health Risks," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(4), pages 465-479, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Valuing Health Risk," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(2), pages 241-45, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Soares, Rodrigo R., 2006. "The welfare cost of violence across countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 821-846, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Becker, Gary S & Murphy, Kevin M, 1988. "The Family and the State," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 1-18, April.
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  17. Jones-Lee, M W, 1992. "Paternalistic Altruism and the Value of Statistical Life," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(410), pages 80-90, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Dickie, Mark & Messman, Victoria L., 2004. "Parental altruism and the value of avoiding acute illness: are kids worth more than parents?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 1146-1174, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Sah, Raaj Kumar, 1991. "The Effects of Child Mortality Changes on Fertility Choice and Parental Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 582-606, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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