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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 nation wide 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, showing 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

Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 9396.

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Date of creation: Dec 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9396

Note: AG DAE HC HE
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Citations

Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. 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
  2. The Future of the EPA
    by Matthew E. Kahn in the reality-based community on 2011-08-25 18:10:15
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. Progress
    by Matthew E. Kahn in The Reality-Based Community on 2013-02-12 15:05:47
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
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Cited by:
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Ryan D. Edwards, 2008. "The Cost of Uncertain Life Span," NBER Working Papers 14093, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  4. James K. Hammitt & Lisa A. Robinson, 2011. "The Income Elasticity of the Value per Statistical Life: Transferring Estimates between High and Low Income Populations," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1.
  5. Stefan Felder, 2006. "Lebenserwartung, medizinischer Fortschritt und Gesundheitsausgaben: Theorie und Empirie," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 7(s1), pages 49-73, 05.
  6. Anna Alberini, 2004. "Robustness of VSL Values from Contingent Valuation Surveys," Working Papers 2004.135, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
  7. 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).
  8. 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).
  9. Mary F. Evans & V. Kerry Smith, 2009. "Measuring How Risk Tradeoffs Adjust With Income," NBER Working Papers 15372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. Charles I. Jones, 2011. "Life and Growth," NBER Working Papers 17094, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  15. Ryan D. Edwards, 2010. "U.S. War Costs: Two Parts Temporary, One Part Permanent," NBER Working Papers 16108, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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