Resources Repository
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ReportPublication 2012Mortality Risks in Environment, Health and Transport
This report presents a major meta-analysis of value of a statistical life (VSL) estimates derived …
This report presents a major meta-analysis of value of a statistical life (VSL) estimates derived from surveys around the world. The analysis seeks to explain the differences in the estimates, for example across countries. Differences in incomes and the magnitude of the risk reduction were found to be the factors having the strongest impact, but numerous other policy-relevant factors are also important. The report also presents advice on how VSL estimates can be best used…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | 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…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2010Valuing Environment-Related Health Risks for Children
This report is the final output of the OECD Valuation of Environment-Related Health Impacts (VERHI) …
This report is the final output of the OECD Valuation of Environment-Related Health Impacts (VERHI) project and presents new research findings. The authors estimate a value per statistical life (VSL) for children and adults based on surveys conducted in the Czech Republic, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
BookPublication 2010Problem Solving, Decision Making, and Professional Judgment
This book includes material drawn from statistics, decision science, social and cognitive psychology, the judgment …
This book includes material drawn from statistics, decision science, social and cognitive psychology, the judgment and decision making literature, and behavioral economics. It combines quantitative approaches to empirical analysis and decision making (i.e., statistics and decision science) with the psychological literature illustrating the systematic errors of the intuitive decision maker.
Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Probability/Bayes | Priority Setting/Ethics | Test Performance | Value of Information | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global | North America -
ArticlePublication 2002QALYs versus WTP
This article discusses quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and willingness to pay (WTP), which are …
This article discusses quality adjusted life years (QALYs) and willingness to pay (WTP), which are alternative measures of the value of reductions in health risks. Although both methods are based on individual preferences, the underlying assumptions differ. The different bases yield systematically different conclusions about the relative value of reducing health and mortality risks to individuals who differ in age, preexisting health conditions, income, and other factors. The choice of which method to use depends…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Preferences/Values | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
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 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 | Decision Analysis | Decision Theory | Probability/Bayes | Operations Research | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine -
BookPublication 2007Advances in Decision Analysis: From Foundations to Applications
Decision analysis consists of a prescriptive theory and associated models and tools that aid individuals …
Decision analysis consists of a prescriptive theory and associated models and tools that aid individuals or groups confronted with complex decision problems in a wide variety of contexts. Decision analysis can be applied to the environment, health and medicine, engineering, public policy, and business. This book reviews and extends the material typically presented in introductory texts on decision analysis. It covers the broad scope of decision analysis at an advanced level and includes chapters written by…
Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Decision Theory | Probability/Bayes | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Value of Information | Mathematical Models | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
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