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The Economic Value of Risks to Life: Evidence from the Swiss Labour Market

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  • Andrea Baranzini
  • Giovanni Ferro Luzzi

Abstract

In this paper, we use the hedonic approach to estimate the value of a statistical life based on the 1995 Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS) and the 1994 Swiss Wage Structure Survey (SWSS). Roughly, the value of a statistical life in Switzerland ranges from CHF 10 to 15 million (6.5-9.5 million current US$). However, more important than the absolute value, our estimates should be taken as an indicator of the value of a statistical life, which is of an order of magnitude higher than previous studies on the value of life in Switzerland, none of which is based on the hedonic approach. Our study confirms previous literature, since the value of statistical life varies with risk level, union coverage, age, and model assumptions. In particular, by separating between individuals with union coverage and those without, we find a slightly higher (but not significantly so) risk premium for the former, which runs counter the idea that in Switzerland unions bargain for safety measures. Finally, along the lines of Moore and Viscusi (1988), we take into account the discounted life years lost, and find a discount rate not significantly different from zero with SLFS and even negative with the SWSS sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Baranzini & Giovanni Ferro Luzzi, 2001. "The Economic Value of Risks to Life: Evidence from the Swiss Labour Market," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 137(II), pages 149-170, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ses:arsjes:2001-ii-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Herrera-Araujo, Daniel & Rochaix, Lise, 2020. "Does the Value per Statistical Life vary with age or baseline health? Evidence from a compensating wage study in France," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Andrea Baranzini & José V. Ramirez & Caroline Schaerer & Philippe Thalmann, 2008. "Introduction to this Volume: Applying Hedonics in the Swiss Housing Markets," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 144(IV), pages 543-559, December.
    3. Marcela Parada-Contzen & Andrés Riquelme-Won & Felipe Vasquez-Lavin, 2013. "The value of a statistical life in Chile," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 1073-1087, December.
    4. Beat Hintermann & Anna Alberini & Anil Markandya, 2010. "Estimating the value of safety with labour market data: are the results trustworthy?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(9), pages 1085-1100.
    5. Abdelaziz Benkhalifa & Paul Lanoie & Mohamed Ayadi, 2013. "Estimated hedonic wage function and value of life in an African country," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(4), pages 3023-3031.
    6. Spengler, Hannes, 2004. "Kompensatorische Lohndifferenziale und der Wert eines statistischen Lebens in Deutschland," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 37281, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    7. Anna Alberini, 2017. "Measuring the economic value of the effects of chemicals on ecological systems and human health," OECD Environment Working Papers 116, OECD Publishing.
    8. Kip Viscusi, W. & Aldy, Joseph E., 2007. "Labor market estimates of the senior discount for the value of statistical life," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 377-392, May.
    9. Spengler, Hannes, 2004. "Kompensatorische Lohndifferenziale und der Wert eines statistischen Lebens in Deutschland (Compensating wage differentials and the value of a statistical life in Germany)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 37(3), pages 269-305.
    10. Spengler, Hannes, 2004. "Kompensatorische Lohndifferenziale und der Wert eines statistischen Lebens in Deutschland," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 133, Darmstadt University of Technology, Department of Law and Economics.
    11. Andreas Kuhn & Oliver Ruf, 2009. "The Value of a Statistical Injury: New Evidence from the Swiss Labor Market," NRN working papers 2009-15, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    12. Spengler, Hannes, 2004. "Kompensatorische Lohndifferenziale und der Wert eines statistischen Lebens in Deutschland (Compensating wage differentials and the value of a statistical life in Germany)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 37(3), pages 269-305.
    13. Lavin, Felipe Vasquez & Bratti, Luna & Orrego, Sergio & Barrientos, Manuel, 2020. "Assessing the Use of Pseudo-panels to Estimate the Value of Statistical Life in Developing Countries," EfD Discussion Paper 20-20, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    14. Kniesner, Thomas J. & Sullivan, Ryan & Viscusi, W. Kip, 2024. "The Military VSL," IZA Discussion Papers 17441, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Joseph E. Aldy & W. Kip Viscusi, 2004. "Age Variations in Workers' Value of Statistical Life," NBER Working Papers 10199, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Christoph Rheinberger, 2011. "A Mixed Logit Approach to Study Preferences for Safety on Alpine Roads," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 121-146, May.
    17. Courard-Hauri David & Lauer Stephen A., 2012. "Taking "All Men Are Created Equal" Seriously: Toward a Metric for the Intergroup Comparison of Utility Functions Through Life Values," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 3(3), pages 1-30, August.
    18. Hintermann, Beat & Minke, Matthias, 2018. "The value of extending life at its end: Health care allocation in the presence of learning spillovers," Working papers 2018/15, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    19. Schleiniger, Reto, 2016. "Implicit CO2 prices of fossil fuel use in Switzerland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 411-420.
    20. Andreas Kuhn & Oliver Ruf, 2013. "The Value of a Statistical Injury: New Evidence from the Swiss Labor Market," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 149(I), pages 57-86, March.
    21. W. Kip Viscusi & Clayton Masterman, 2017. "Anchoring biases in international estimates of the value of a statistical life," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 103-128, April.
    22. Johannes Schoder & Peter Zweifel, 2011. "Flat-of-the-curve medicine: a new perspective on the production of health," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-10, December.

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