TY  - JOUR
AU  - Viscusi,W. Kip
AU  - Aldy,Joseph E.
TI  - The Value of a Statistical Life: A Critical Review of Market Estimates throughout the World
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9487
PY  - 2003
Y2  - February 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9487
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9487.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
W. Kip Viscusi
Vanderbilt Law School
131 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203-1181
Tel: 615/343-7715
E-Mail: kip.viscusi@vanderbilt.edu
AB  - A substantial literature over the past thirty years has evaluated tradeoffs between money and fatality risks. These values in turn serve as estimates of the value of a statistical life. This article reviews more than 60 studies of mortality risk premiums from ten countries and approximately 40 studies that present estimates of injury risk premiums. This critical review examines a variety of econometric issues, the role of unionization in risk premiums, and the effects of age on the value of a statistical life. Our meta-analysis indicates an income elasticity of the value of a statistical life from about 0.5 to 0.6. The paper also presents a detailed discussion of policy applications of these value of a statistical life estimates and related issues, including risk-risk analysis.
ER  -