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What’s in a Name? A Systematic Search for Alternatives to “Value of Statistical Life”

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  • Dockins, Chris
  • Maguire, Kelly
  • Newbold, Steve
  • Simon, Nathalie
  • Krupnick, Alan

    (Resources for the Future)

  • Taylor, Laura

Abstract

Benefit-cost analyses of environmental, health, and safety regulations often rely on an estimate of the “value of statistical life,” or VSL, to calculate the aggregate benefits of human mortality risk reductions in monetary terms. The VSL represents the marginal rate of substitution between mortality risk and money, and while well-understood by economists, to many non-economists, decision-makers, media professionals, and others, the term resembles obfuscated jargon bordering on the immoral. This paper describes a series of seven focus groups in which we applied a systematic approach for identifying and testing alternatives to the VSL terminology. Our objective was to identify a term that better communicates the VSL concept. Specifically, a list of 17 alternatives to the VSL term was developed and tested in focus groups that culminated in a formal ranking exercise. Using a round-robin tournament approach to analyze the data, and our qualitative judgments, we identify “value of reduced mortality risk” as the dominant replacement term among the alternatives tested.

Suggested Citation

  • Dockins, Chris & Maguire, Kelly & Newbold, Steve & Simon, Nathalie & Krupnick, Alan & Taylor, Laura, 2018. "What’s in a Name? A Systematic Search for Alternatives to “Value of Statistical Life”," RFF Working Paper Series 18-14, Resources for the Future.
  • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-18-14
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    File URL: https://www.rff.org/documents/1816/RFF20WP-18-14.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scotton, Carol R. & Taylor, Laura O., 2011. "Valuing risk reductions: Incorporating risk heterogeneity into a revealed preference framework," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 381-397, May.
    2. Trudy Ann Cameron, 2010. "Euthanizing the Value of a Statistical Life," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 4(2), pages 161-178, Summer.
    3. H. Spencer Banzhaf, 2014. "Retrospectives: The Cold-War Origins of the Value of Statistical Life," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 213-226, Fall.
    4. Lisa A. Robinson, 2007. "Policy Monitor How US Government Agencies Value Mortality Risk Reductions," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 1(2), pages 283-299, Summer.
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