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Bad Deaths

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  • Sunstein, Cass R

Abstract

Evidence is presented to show that people are willing to pay a premium to avoid "bad deaths"--deaths that are especially dreaded, uncontrollable, involuntarily incurred, and inequitably distributed. Public judgments of this kind help explain the demand for regulation. But some of these judgments do not justify current policies, because they stem from selective attention and confusion. Few causes of death are entirely uncontrollable or faced wholly involuntarily; the issue is not whether they can be controlled but at what cost. But three kinds of "bad deaths" deserve special attention: those imposing high externalities, those preceded by unusual pain and suffering, and those producing distributional inequity. Copyright 1997 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Suggested Citation

  • Sunstein, Cass R, 1997. "Bad Deaths," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 259-282, May-June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jrisku:v:14:y:1997:i:3:p:259-82
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    Cited by:

    1. Jones-Lee, M. & Spackman, M., 2013. "The development of road and rail transport safety valuation in the United Kingdom," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 23-40.
    2. Hammitt, James K., 2010. "Economic Evaluation with Hormetic, Hockey-Stick, and Linear Response Functions: An Application to Radon in Drinking Water," TSE Working Papers 10-267, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    3. Leiter, Andrea M. & Pruckner, Gerald J., 2006. "Proportionality of Willingness to Pay to Small Risk Changes - The Impact of Attitudinal Factors in Scope Tests," Sustainability Indicators and Environmental Valuation Working Papers 12225, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    4. Fredrik Carlsson & Dinky Daruvala & Henrik Jaldell, 2010. "Value of Statistical Life and Cause of Accident: A Choice Experiment," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(6), pages 975-986, June.
    5. Glenn C. Blomquist, 2004. "Self-Protection and Averting Behavior, Values of Statistical Lives, and Benefit Cost Analysis of Environmental Policy," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 89-110, March.
    6. Robinson, Angela & Covey, Judith & Spencer, Anne & Loomes, Graham, 2010. "Are some deaths worse than others? The effect of 'labelling' on people's perceptions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 444-455, June.
    7. Andrea Leiter & Gerald Pruckner, 2009. "Proportionality of Willingness to Pay to Small Changes in Risk: The Impact of Attitudinal Factors in Scope Tests," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 42(2), pages 169-186, February.
    8. Gentry, Elissa Philip & Viscusi, W. Kip, 2016. "The fatality and morbidity components of the value of statistical life," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 90-99.
    9. Andrea M. Leiter & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2005. "Dying in an Avalanche: Current Risks and Valuation," School of Economics and Public Policy Working Papers 2005-16, University of Adelaide, School of Economics and Public Policy.
    10. Robinson, Angela & Covey, Judith & Spencer, Anne & Loomes, Graham, 2010. "Are some deaths worse than others? The effect of 'labelling' on people's perceptions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 444-455, June.
    11. Pedersen, Line Bjørnskov & Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte & Kjær, Trine, 2011. "The influence of information and private versus public provision on preferences for screening for prostate cancer: A willingness-to-pay study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 277-289, August.
    12. Schubert, Manuel & Brück, Tilman, 2014. "The Perception of Lethal Risks: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 8578, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Olivier Chanel & Graciela Chichilnisky, 2009. "The influence of fear in decisions: Experimental evidence," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 271-298, December.
    14. Bleichrodt, Han & Herrero, Carmen & Pinto, Jose Luis, 2002. "A proposal to solve the comparability problem in cost-utility analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 397-403, May.
    15. Michael Jones-Lee, 2015. "Dealing with safety in UK public sector project appraisal," Chapters, in: Carol Mansfield & V. K. Smith (ed.), Benefit–Cost Analyses for Security Policies, chapter 5, pages 117-139, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Kochi, Ikuho & Taylor, Laura O., 2011. "Risk Heterogeneity and the Value of Reducing Fatal Risks: Further Market-Based Evidence," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(3), pages 1-28, August.
    17. Dorte Gyrd‐Hansen & Peder Andreas Halvorsen & Ivar Sønbø Kristiansen, 2008. "Willingness‐to‐pay for a statistical life in the times of a pandemic," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 55-66, January.
    18. W. Viscusi & Elissa Gentry, 2015. "The value of a statistical life for transportation regulations: A test of the benefits transfer methodology," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 53-77, August.
    19. 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.
    20. Jones-Lee, M. & Aven, T., 2011. "ALARP—What does it really mean?," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 96(8), pages 877-882.
    21. James Hammitt & Kevin Haninger, 2010. "Valuing fatal risks to children and adults: Effects of disease, latency, and risk aversion," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 57-83, February.
    22. Norinder, Anna & Hjalte, Krister & Persson, Ulf, 2001. "Scope and scale insensitivities in a contingent valuation study of risk reductions," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 141-153, August.
    23. Angela Robinson & Judith Covey & Anne Spencer & Graham Loomes, 2007. "Are Some Deaths Worse Than Others? Results from a Discrete Choice Experiment," Working Papers 597, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.

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