TY  - JOUR
AU  - Costa,Dora L.
AU  - Kahn,Matthew E.
TI  - Changes in the Value of Life: 1940-1980
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9396
PY  - 2002
Y2  - December 2002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9396
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9396.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Dora Costa
Bunche Hall 9272
Department of Economics
UCLA
Box 951477
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477
Tel: (310) 825-4249
Fax: (310) 825-9528
E-Mail: costa@econ.ucla.edu

Matthew E. Kahn
UCLA Institute of the Environment
Department of Economics
Department of Public Policy
Box 951496
La Kretz Hall, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1496
Tel: 310/794-4904
Fax: 310/825-9663
E-Mail: mkahn@ioe.ucla.edu
AB  - 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.
ER  -