Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2008Adjusting VSL for Age
This article addresses the theoretical ambiguity in the effect of age on the value of …
This article addresses the theoretical ambiguity in the effect of age on the value of statistical life (VSL) using a novel, age-dependent fatal risk measure to estimate age-specific hedonic wage regressions. VSL exhibits an inverted-U-shaped relationship with age. In the year 2000 cross section, workers' VSL rises from $3.7 million (ages 18–24) to $9.7 million (ages 35–44) and declines to $3.4 million (ages 55–62). Controlling for birth-year cohort effects yields a peak VSL of $7.8…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2008Health and Economic Impact of HPV 16 and 18 Vaccination and Cervical Cancer Screening in India
As cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among women in low-income countries, …
As cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death among women in low-income countries, with approximately 25% of cases worldwide occurring in India, these authors estimated the potential health and economic impact of different cervical cancer prevention strategies in India. After empirically calibrating a cervical cancer model to country-specific epidemiologic data, they projected cancer incidence, life expectancy, and lifetime costs (I$2005), and calculated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (I$/YLS) for the following strategies: pre-adolescent vaccination of…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Clinical Care | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Asia & Pacific -
ArticlePublication 2007Making the Right Decision: Benjamin Franklin in 1736
This paper applies a decision analytic approach to a past decision made by Benjamin Franklin with regard to …
This paper applies a decision analytic approach to a past decision made by Benjamin Franklin with regard to inoculating his son against smallpox. Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography said: “In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the smallpox taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of the parents who…
Decision Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2007Including Boys in an HPV Vaccination Program: A CEA in a Low-Resource Setting
This paper looks at the cost-effectiveness of including boys vs girls alone in a pre-adolescent vaccination …
This paper looks at the cost-effectiveness of including boys vs girls alone in a pre-adolescent vaccination program against human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in Brazil. Using demographic, epidemiological, and cancer data from Brazil, the authors developed a dynamic transmission model of HPV infection between males and females. Model-projected reductions in HPV incidence under different vaccination scenarios were applied to a stochastic model of cervical carcinogenesis to project lifetime costs and benefits. They found that at 90%…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Infectious Diseases | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | Latin America & Caribbean -
ArticlePublication 2007Economic Evaluation of Hepatitis B Vaccination in Low-Income Countries: Cost-Effectiveness Affordability Curves
In the face of uncertainties about both the health and economic consequences of a vaccine …
In the face of uncertainties about both the health and economic consequences of a vaccine program, as well as the availability and magnitude of resources needed to fund the program, cost-effectiveness affordability curves can provide information to decision-makers about the probability that a program will be both cost-effective and affordable: these are distinct but equally relevant considerations in resource-poor settings. This paper describes the application of this method to assess a hepatitis B vaccination program in the…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Sub-Saharan Africa -
ArticlePublication 2007Cost Effectiveness of Interventions to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Mexico
This article, published in PloS One, uses maternal mortality data from Mexico to examine trends …
This article, published in PloS One, uses maternal mortality data from Mexico to examine trends in the provision of maternal health services and the trajectory towards reaching the Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5). The authors developed a model of the natural history of pregnancy and pregnancy related complications and simulated a cohort of 15-year-old women over their lifetime based on national data. The model produced clinical outcomes, costs, and cost-effectiveness of the current standard…
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Maternal/Reproductive Health | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Latin America & Caribbean -
ArticlePublication 2007Mortality-Risk Valuation and Age
This article addresses whether a single value of statistical life (VSL) should be applied to …
This article addresses whether a single value of statistical life (VSL) should be applied to all age groups or whether lower values should be used for the elderly, recognizing that their life expectancies are shorter than those of younger people. Surveys of different age groups' willingness to pay (WTP) for mortality-risk reductions can potentially help resolve this issue. The 36 studies reviewed suggest that the literature is split on whether older people have a lower WTP…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2006Can Discrete Event Simulation be of Use in Modeling Major Depression?
This article, published in Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, reviews the published literature on Markov …
This article, published in Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, reviews the published literature on Markov models in depression and identified potential limitations in using this particular modelling approach in this disease area. Additionally, the authors develop a “Discrete Event Simulation” (DES) model to investigate the benefits and drawbacks of this simulation method compared with Markov modelling techniques. The findings of this study indicate that the most important limitation of using Markov models in depression is…
Decision Analysis | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Mental Health | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2000Discipline of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Cost-benefit analysis is a general discipline, based on the use of some foundational principles, which …
Cost-benefit analysis is a general discipline, based on the use of some foundational principles, which are not altogether controversial, but have nevertheless considered plausibility. Divisiveness increases as various additional requirements are imposed. There is a trade-off here between easier usability (through locked-up formulae) and more general acceptability (through allowing parametric variations). The paper, by Amartya Sen, examines and scrutinizes the merits and demerits of these additional requirements. The particular variant of cost-benefit approach that is…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Government/Law