Environmental conditions are likely to have an effect on people’s sense of life satisfaction, both directly and indirectly. In recent years there has been a burgeoning literature assessing the relationship between measures of environmental quality and subjective well-being. This type of...

While the basic principles of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) are long-standing, the challenges entailed in applying these principles are constantly evolving. This paper reviews recent developments in environmental CBA since the publication of an OECD volume on this topic by Pearce et al. (2006)....

This paper reviews and discusses the existing methods for placing a value on the effects of chemicals on human health and the environment. It surveys both methods and non-market methods, discussing their advantage and limitations. For example, when valuing non-fatal illnesses, the...

The purpose of this working paper is to review existing chemical risk assessment methods in the context of supporting socio-economic cost-benefit analysis, focusing on more “typical” risk assessments that may not have strong epidemiologic data and/or were not originally designed to support...

This paper reviews and discusses existing methodologies for transferring and extrapolating the economic value of health and environmental impacts across chemicals, and identifies challenges with such value transfer and when it can be suitable. The value transfer methodologies describes can be...

This paper presents updated results for the cost of ambient air pollution in 41 countries: the 6 major emerging economies known as the BRIICS – Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa – and the 35 member-countries of the OECD. It draws on the epidemiological evidence base...

This paper reviews and compares five case studies on quantification and economic valuation of benefits in cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) of regulating phthalates, mercury, PFOA (perfluoro-octanic acid) and its salts, NMP (1 methyl-2-pyrroloidine) and formaldehyde. The case studies had all been...

Based on an in-depth literature review and responses to a survey among OECD member countries, this paper discusses the use of flexibility mechanisms in environmental regulations. Such mechanisms can provide flexibility as to how a given environmental improvement is achieved, regarding where...

This paper gives an overview of economic assessments of the benefits of the control of 1-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), an organic solvent, used in a number of sectors. Health risks associated with the manufacture of NMP include the risk of stillbirth and developmental retardation to pregnant...

This paper gives an overview of economic assessments of the benefits of the control of emissions of mercury compounds, discusses their completeness from a social cost point of view, and discusses the relative magnitudes of the values attached to mercury compounds in different contexts. The...