This paper provides theoretical background for a symposium on whether the monetary value of changes in mortality risk resulting from environmental policy is best summarized in terms of a ‘value per statistical life’ (VSL) or ‘value per statistical life-year’ (VSLY). The relationship...

The choice of the rate at which one should discount the long-term benefits of mitigating climate change is highly controversial. Both the level and the slope of the term structure of discount rates have been discussed intensively in relation to the determination of the social cost of carbon....

Compensating wage differentials are used to estimate individuals' marginal rates of substitution between income and both fatal and non-fatal occupational-accident risks in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. Data are obtained by in-person survey of almost 600 workers and include workers'...

Abatement of global climate change is modeled as a two-period game between the industrialized "North" and developing "South." Using an integrated-assessment model to simulate the economic and environmental consequences of alternative abatement policies, cooperative and Nash solutions are...

In evaluating the appropriate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a key parameter is the rate of substitution between mortality risk and wealth or income, conventionally summarized as the value per statistical life (VSL). For the United States, VSL is estimated as approximately $10 million, which...

The social value of risk reduction (SVRR) is the marginal social value of reducing an individual’s fatality risk, as measured by some social welfare function (SWF). This is the linchpin concept for applying social welfare functions to the domain of fatality risk regulation. This Article...

Regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) weigh the benefits of regulations against the burdens they impose and are invaluable tools for informing decision makers. We offer 10 tips for nonspecialist policymakers and interested stakeholders who will be reading RIAs as consumers. 1. Core problem:...

Conventionally, benefit-cost analysis focuses on economic efficiency, summing the values of a policy’s costs and benefits based on the preferences of those affected. There is widespread agreement that it should be supplemented with information on how the impacts are distributed across...

Benefit-cost analysis and other forms of economic evaluation are powerful tools, encouraging the systematic collection and assessment of the evidence needed to support sound policy decisions. In low-and middle-income countries, where resources are very scarce and needs are very great, such...