IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/atlecj/v52y2024i1d10.1007_s11293-024-09796-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using the Value of a Statistical Life to Measure the Benefit from the Clean Air Act: Comment

Author

Listed:
  • Jon R. Neill

    (Western Michigan University)

Abstract

The benefit-cost study of the Clean Air Act conducted by the EPA a decade ago found that the benefit from that act far exceeds its cost. However, 85% of that benefit came from the EPA's valuation of the lives saved by the act. This valuation was based on estimates of the statistical value of a life, the majority of which were made using a hedonic wage equation. The analysis presented here shows that such a valuation may not accurately capture willingness to pay for improved air quality. In fact, it is only capable of doing so in a very special case, when air quality does not affect the probability of developing non-fatal conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jon R. Neill, 2024. "Using the Value of a Statistical Life to Measure the Benefit from the Clean Air Act: Comment," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 52(1), pages 39-44, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:52:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11293-024-09796-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11293-024-09796-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11293-024-09796-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11293-024-09796-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tamma Carleton & Amir Jina & Michael Delgado & Michael Greenstone & Trevor Houser & Solomon Hsiang & Andrew Hultgren & Robert E Kopp & Kelly E McCusker & Ishan Nath & James Rising & Ashwin Rode & Hee , 2022. "Valuing the Global Mortality Consequences of Climate Change Accounting for Adaptation Costs and Benefits [Distributive Politics and Economic Growth]," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 137(4), pages 2037-2105.
    2. Viscusi, W. Kip, 2021. "Extending the Domain of the Value of a Statistical Life," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Neill, Jon R., 2022. "Using consumer’s surplus to bound willingness to pay for non-market goods," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mérel, Pierre & Paroissien, Emmanuel & Gammans, Matthew, 2024. "Sufficient statistics for climate change counterfactuals," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Alexander C. Abajian & Tamma Carleton & Kyle C. Meng & Olivier Deschênes, 2025. "Quantifying the global climate feedback from energy-based adaptation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
    3. Carozzi, Felipe & Roth, Sefi, 2023. "Dirty density: Air quality and the density of American cities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Gregory Casey & Stephie Fried & Ethan Goode, 2023. "Projecting the Impact of Rising Temperatures: The Role of Macroeconomic Dynamics," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 71(3), pages 688-718, September.
    5. Rennels, Lisa & Rennert, Kevin & Errickson, Frank & Anthoff, David & Wingenroth, Jordan & Prest, Brian C., 2024. "Accounting for Biodiversity Loss Raises the Social Cost of CO2," RFF Working Paper Series 24-23, Resources for the Future.
    6. Susana Ferreira, 2024. "Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change: Economic Impacts and Adaptation Policies," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 16(1), pages 207-231, October.
    7. Patrick Carlin & Brian E. Dixon & Kosali I. Simon & Ryan Sullivan & Coady Wing, 2022. "How Undervalued is the Covid-19 Vaccine? Evidence from Discrete Choice Experiments and VSL Benchmarks," NBER Working Papers 30118, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Bressler, R. Daniel & Papp, Anna & Sarmiento, Luis & Shrader, Jeffrey G. & Wilson, Andrew J., 2025. "Working Under the Sun: The Role of Occupation in Temperature-Related Mortality in Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 17759, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Adrien Fabre & Tobias Kruse & Bluebery Planterose & Ana Sanchez Chico & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2025. "Fighting Climate Change: International Attitudes toward Climate Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(4), pages 1258-1300, April.
    10. Qiu, Yun & Liu, Yunning & Shi, Wei & Zhou, Maigeng, 2024. "The impact of ozone pollution on mortality: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    11. Beaulieu, Jake & Kopits, Elizabeth & Moore, Chris C. & Parthum, Bryan M., 2024. "The Climate Benefits of Improving Water Quality," National Center for Environmental Economics-NCEE Working Papers 348911, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
    12. Marco Gortan & Lorenzo Testa & Giorgio Fagiolo & Francesco Lamperti, 2023. "A unified repository for pre-processed climate data weighted by gridded economic activity," Papers 2312.05971, arXiv.org.
    13. WANG, Hongming, 2025. "Quantifying the Mortality Consequences of Climate Change : Evidence from Japan," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-143, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. W. Kip Viscusi & Robert J. Cramer, 2023. "How regulations undervalue occupational fatalities," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(1), pages 250-271, January.
    15. Méjean, Aurélie & Pottier, Antonin & Zuber, Stéphane & Fleurbaey, Marc, 2023. "Opposite ethical views converge under the threat of catastrophic climate change," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    16. Keivabu, Risto Conte & Cozzani, Marco & Wilde, Joshua, 2023. "Temperature and Fertility: Evidence from Spanish Register Data," IZA Discussion Papers 16110, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Filippo Natoli, 2023. "The macroeconomic effects of temperature surprise shocks," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1407, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Francis X. Diebold, 2022. "On the Financing of Climate Change Adaptation in Developing Countries," Papers 2210.11525, arXiv.org.
    19. Adrien Bilal & James H. Stock, 2025. "A Guide to Macroeconomics and Climate Change," NBER Working Papers 33567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Gilli, Martino & Calcaterra, Matteo & Emmerling, Johannes & Granella, Francesco, 2024. "Climate change impacts on the within-country income distributions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:52:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11293-024-09796-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.