Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2021Misinformation and Public Opinion of Science and Health
This article summarizes the literature on misinformation, beginning with an overview of the most common …
This article summarizes the literature on misinformation, beginning with an overview of the most common definitions of misinformation (and related terms) in the communication literature and then a review of academic studies in the areas of science and health. The author acknowledges four overarching questions that have emerged prominently in recent years: (1) What does “misinformation” (and the terms that are oftentimes treated synonymously) mean? (2) How big of a problem is it in areas…
Preferences/Values | Energy/Engineering | Climate/Environment | Decision Psychology | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Education/Labor | Science/Technology | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2019Misinformation Has Created a New World Disorder
This article, in brief, discusses (1) that many types of information disorder exist online, from …
This article, in brief, discusses (1) that many types of information disorder exist online, from fabricated videos to impersonated accounts to memes designed to manipulate genuine content, (2) automation and microtargeting tactics have made it easier for agents of disinformation to weaponize regular users of the social web to spread harmful messages, and (3) much research is needed to understand the effects of disinformation and build safeguards against it. This description was adapted from the…
Preferences/Values | Energy/Engineering | Climate/Environment | Decision Psychology | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2007Decision Analysis: A Personal Account of How It Got Started and Evolved
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement …
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement in its development. He describes the early days of Operations Research (OR) in the late 1940s with its approach to complex, strategic decision making. After reading John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1947) and Abraham Wald’s two books (1947, 1950), he became involved in statistical decision theory. A few years later, after reading Leonard…
Preferences/Values | Energy/Engineering | Business/Industry | Decision Theory | Probability/Bayes | Decision Analysis | Operations Research | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
State-Transition | Business/Industry | Mathematical Models | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | North America -
ArticlePublication 2019Cost-Effectiveness of Community-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention Interventions in Australia
This study examined the cost-effectiveness of community-based obesity prevention interventions (CBIs) consisting of strategies to …
This study examined the cost-effectiveness of community-based obesity prevention interventions (CBIs) consisting of strategies to promote healthy eating and physical activity for Australian children aged between 5-18 years. A multiple cohort Markov model that simulates diseases associated with overweight and obesity was used to estimate the health benefits, measured as health-adjusted life years (HALYs) and healthcare-related cost offsets from diseases averted due to exposure to the intervention. Health and cost outcomes were estimated over the…
State-Transition | Food/Agriculture | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Oceania -
ArticlePublication 2017Modeled Health Benefits of a SSB Tax across Different Socioeconomic Groups in Australia
This analysis assessed the potential cost-effectiveness, health gains, and financial impacts of a 20% sugar-sweetened …
This analysis assessed the potential cost-effectiveness, health gains, and financial impacts of a 20% sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax for Australia. Australia-specific price elasticities were used to predict decreases in SSB consumption for each socio-economic quintile. Changes in body mass index (BMI) were based on SSB consumption, BMI from the Australian Health Survey, and energy balance equations. Markov cohort models were used to estimate the health-adjusted life years (HALYs) gained, healthcare costs saved, and out-of-pocket costs…
State-Transition | Food/Agriculture | Mathematical Models | Chronic Disease/Risk | Policy/Regulation | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Oceania -
ArticlePublication 2017Valuing Non-Fatal Risks: Monetary and Health-Utility Measures
This article discusses metrics for valuing environmental, health, and safety policies, which should be consistent …
This article discusses metrics for valuing environmental, health, and safety policies, which should be consistent with both the preferences of affected individuals and social preferences for distribution of health risks in the population. Two classes of metrics are widely used: monetary measures (e.g., willingness to pay) and health-utility measures (e.g., quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)). Health-utility measures impose more structure than monetary measures, with the result that individuals’ preferences often appear inconsistent…
Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2012Expert Elicitation of VSL
This article uses expert elicitation to address the monetary value of avoided premature mortality, which …
This article uses expert elicitation to address the monetary value of avoided premature mortality, which typically dominates the quantified benefits of air pollution regulations. Formal expert elicitation methods are one means of characterizing associated uncertainties. The authors undertake a pilot study that elicits quantitative probabilistic judgments of uncertainties in value per statistical life (VSL) estimates for use in an air pollution context. The two-stage elicitation addresses uncertainties in both a base case VSL for a…
Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2011Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions: Progress and Challenges
This article focuses on the value of mortality risk reduction, an important component of the …
This article focuses on the value of mortality risk reduction, an important component of the benefits estimates for environmental policies. In recent years, the number, scope, and quality of valuation studies have increased dramatically. Revealed-preference studies of wage compensation for occupational risks, on which analysts have primarily relied, have benefited from improved data and statistical methods. Stated-preference research has improved methodologically and expanded dramatically. In these studies, researchers have explored many issues concerning the validity…
Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis