IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/jeapmx/v18y2016i04ns1464333216500253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Valuing a Statistical Life Year in Relation to Clean Air

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Hein

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Pete Roberts

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Lucia Gonzalez

    (Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Environmental cost–benefit analysis is increasingly used to support the formulation of European air quality policies. In these analyses, typically around three-quarters of the societal benefits of cleaner air are related to monetised increases in statistical life expectancy. However, the literature presents widely diverging estimates for the value of a statistical life year (a ‘VOLY’). This paper presents a review of studies aimed at establishing a VOLY as used in European air quality policies and it examines the factors that cause the variations in VOLY estimates. We discuss the implications of our findings for European air quality policies and also present a novel approach to analyse the VOLY. We have labelled our approach the ‘maximum societal revenue VOLY’ (MSR-VOLY), and postulate that this approach may be particularly useful in the context of natural capital accounting.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Hein & Pete Roberts & Lucia Gonzalez, 2016. "Valuing a Statistical Life Year in Relation to Clean Air," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(04), pages 1-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:jeapmx:v:18:y:2016:i:04:n:s1464333216500253
    DOI: 10.1142/S1464333216500253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1464333216500253
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1464333216500253?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Alberini & Alistair Hunt & Anil Markandya, 2006. "Willingness to Pay to Reduce Mortality Risks: Evidence from a Three-Country Contingent Valuation Study," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 33(2), pages 251-264, February.
    2. Carl Obst & Lars Hein & Bram Edens, 2016. "National Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Assets and Their Services," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 1-23, May.
    3. James Hammitt & Jin-Tan Liu, 2004. "Effects of Disease Type and Latency on the Value of Mortality Risk," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 73-95, January.
    4. Jytte Nielsen & Susan Chilton & Michael Jones-Lee & Hugh Metcalf, 2010. "How would you like your gain in life expectancy to be provided? An experimental approach," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 195-218, December.
    5. Johannesson, Magnus & Johansson, Per-Olov & Lofgren, Karl-Gustaf, 1997. "On the Value of Changes in Life Expectancy: Blips versus Parametric Changes," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 221-239, December.
    6. James Hammitt & Ying Zhou, 2006. "The Economic Value of Air-Pollution-Related Health Risks in China: A Contingent Valuation Study," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 33(3), pages 399-423, March.
    7. N. Künzli & R. Kaiser & S. Medina & M. Studnicka & O. Chanel & P. Filliger & M. Herry & F. Horak & V. Puybonnieux-Texier & Philippe Quénel & Jodi Schneider & R. Seethaler & Jean-Christophe Vergnaud & , 2000. "Public health Impact of Outdoor and Traffic related Air Pollution," Post-Print halshs-00150955, HAL.
    8. Krupnick, Alan & Alberini, Anna & Cropper, Maureen & Simon, Nathalie & O'Brien, Bernie & Goeree, Ron & Heintzelman, Martin, 2002. "Age, Health and the Willingness to Pay for Mortality Risk Reductions: A Contingent Valuation Survey of Ontario Residents," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 161-186, March.
    9. Jill Morris & James K. Hammitt, 2001. "Using Life Expectancy to Communicate Benefits of Health Care Programs in Contingent Valuation Studies," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 21(6), pages 468-478, December.
    10. David K. Whynes & Jane L. Wolstenholme & Emma Frew, 2004. "Evidence of range bias in contingent valuation payment scales," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 183-190, February.
    11. Vatn, Arild, 2005. "Rationality, institutions and environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 203-217, November.
    12. Ian Bateman & Georgina Mace & Carlo Fezzi & Giles Atkinson & Kerry Turner, 2011. "Economic Analysis for Ecosystem Service Assessments," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(2), pages 177-218, February.
    13. Tammy M. Thompson & Sebastian Rausch & Rebecca K. Saari & Noelle E. Selin, 2014. "A systems approach to evaluating the air quality co-benefits of US carbon policies," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 917-923, October.
    14. Nick Hanley & Mandy Ryan & Robert Wright, 2003. "Estimating the monetary value of health care: lessons from environmental economics," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 3-16, January.
    15. Olivier Chanel & Stéphane Luchini, 2014. "Monetary values for risk of death from air pollution exposure: a context-dependent scenario with a control for intra-familial altruism," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 67-91, March.
    16. Guo, Xiaoqi & Haab, Timothy C. & Hammitt, James K., 2006. "Contingent Valuation and the Economic Value of Air-Pollution-Related Health Risks in China," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21366, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    17. Richard A. Hirth & Michael E. Chernew & Edward Miller & A. Mark Fendrick & William G. Weissert, 2000. "Willingness to Pay for a Quality-adjusted Life Year," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 20(3), pages 332-342, July.
    18. Arild Vatn, 2005. "Institutions and the Environment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2826.
    19. Johannesson, Magnus & Johansson, Per-Olov, 1996. "To Be, or Not to Be, That Is the Question: An Empirical Study of the WTP for an Increased Life Expectancy at an Advanced Age," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 163-174, September.
    20. Peter A. Diamond & Jerry A. Hausman, 1994. "Contingent Valuation: Is Some Number Better than No Number?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(4), pages 45-64, Fall.
    21. Klose, Thomas, 1999. "The contingent valuation method in health care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 97-123, May.
    22. P. Filliger & M. Herry & F. Horak & V. Puybonnieux-Texier & P. Quenel & J. Schneider & R.K. Seethaler & J.C. Vernaud & H. Sommer & N. Künzli & R. Kaiser & S. Medina & M. Studnicka & Olivier Chanel, 2000. "Public-health impact of outdoor and traffic-related air pollution: a European assessment," Post-Print hal-01462907, HAL.
    23. Brigitte Desaigues & Ari Rabl & Dominique Ami & Kene Boun My & Serge Masson & Marie-Anne Salomon & Laure Santoni, 2007. "Monetary Value of a Life Expectancy Gain due to Reduced Air Pollution : Lessons from a Contingent Valuation in France," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 117(5), pages 675-698.
    24. James K. Hammitt, 2007. "Valuing Changes in Mortality Risk: Lives Saved Versus Life Years Saved," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 1(2), pages 228-240, Summer.
    25. Alan Krupnick, 2007. "Mortality-risk Valuation and Age: Stated Preference Evidence," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 1(2), pages 261-282, Summer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jenniches, Simon & Worrell, Ernst & Fumagalli, Elena, 2019. "Regional economic and environmental impacts of wind power developments: A case study of a German region," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 499-514.
    2. Pelletier, Marie-Chantale & Heagney, Elizabeth & Kovač, Mladen, 2021. "Valuing recreational services: A review of methods with application to New South Wales National Parks," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    3. Nardella, L. & Sebastiani, A. & Stafoggia, M. & Franzese, P.P. & Manes, F., 2023. "Modelling PM10 removal in three Italian coastal Metropolitan Cities along a latitudinal gradient," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 483(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hammitt, James K. & Tuncel, Tuba, 2023. "Monetary values of increasing life expectancy: sensitivity to shifts of the survival curve," TSE Working Papers 23-1416, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    2. James K. Hammitt & Tuba Tunçel, 2023. "Monetary values of increasing life expectancy: Sensitivity to shifts of the survival curve," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 239-269, December.
    3. Hammitt, James K., 2023. "Consistent Valuation of a Reduction in Mortality Risk using Values per Life, Life Year, and Quality-Adjusted Life Year," TSE Working Papers 23-1431, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    4. James K. Hammitt, 2023. "Consistent valuation of a reduction in mortality risk using values per life, life year, and quality‐adjusted life year," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 1964-1981, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Dorte Gyrd‐Hansen & Mette Lundsby Jensen & Trine Kjaer, 2014. "Framing The Willingness‐To‐Pay Question: Impact On Response Patterns And Mean Willingness To Pay," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 550-563, May.
    7. Ami, Dominique & Aprahamian, Frédéric & Chanel, Olivier & Joulé, Robert-Vincent & Luchini, Stéphane, 2014. "Willingness to pay of committed citizens: A field experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 31-39.
    8. Hammitt, James K. & Robinson, Lisa A., 2011. "The Income Elasticity of the Value per Statistical Life: Transferring Estimates between High and Low Income Populations," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 1-29, January.
    9. Hammitt, James K. & Herrera-Araujo, Daniel, 2018. "Peeling back the onion: Using latent class analysis to uncover heterogeneous responses to stated preference surveys," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 165-189.
    10. Shihomi Ara & Cem Tekeşin, 2017. "The Monetary Valuation of Lifetime Health Improvement and Life Expectancy Gains in Turkey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-27, September.
    11. James Hammitt & Tuba Tunçel, 2015. "Preferences for life-expectancy gains: Sooner or later?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 79-101, August.
    12. Henrik Lindhjem & Ståle Navrud & Nils Axel Braathen & Vincent Biausque, 2011. "Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions from Environmental, Transport, and Health Policies: A Global Meta‐Analysis of Stated Preference Studies," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(9), pages 1381-1407, September.
    13. Henrik Andersson & James Hammitt & Gunnar Lindberg & Kristian Sundström, 2013. "Willingness to Pay and Sensitivity to Time Framing: A Theoretical Analysis and an Application on Car Safety," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 56(3), pages 437-456, November.
    14. Henrik Andersson & Nicolas Treich, 2011. "The Value of a Statistical Life," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Bangzhu Zhu & Runzhi Pang & Julien Chevallier & Yi-Ming Wei & Dinh-Tri Vo, 2019. "Including intangible costs into the cost-of-illness approach: a method refinement illustrated based on the PM2.5 economic burden in China," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(4), pages 501-511, June.
    16. Andrea Leiter, 2011. "Age effects in monetary valuation of reduced mortality risks: the relevance of age-specific hazard rates," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(4), pages 331-344, August.
    17. Hoffmann, Sandra & Qin, Ping & Krupnick, Alan & Badrakh, Burmaajav & Batbaatar, Suvd & Altangerel, Enkhjargal & Sereeter, Lodoysamba, 2012. "The willingness to pay for mortality risk reductions in Mongolia," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 493-513.
    18. Henry A. Roman & James K. Hammitt & Tyra L. Walsh & David M. Stieb, 2012. "Expert Elicitation of the Value per Statistical Life in an Air Pollution Context," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(12), pages 2133-2151, December.
    19. Alberini, Anna & Ščasný, Milan, 2013. "Exploring heterogeneity in the value of a statistical life: Cause of death v. risk perceptions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 143-155.
    20. Alberini, Anna & Tonin, Stefania & Turvani, Margherita, 2009. "Rates of Time Preferences for Saving Lives in the Hazardous Waste Site Context," Sustainability Indicators and Environmental Valuation Working Papers 47177, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:jeapmx:v:18:y:2016:i:04:n:s1464333216500253. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/jeapm/jeapm.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.