The Value of a Statistical Life: A Critical Review of Market Estimates Throughout the World

A substantial literature over the past thirty years has evaluated tradeoffs between money and fatality risks. These values in turn serve as estimates of the value of a statistical life. This article reviews more than 60 studies of mortality risk premiums from ten countries and approximately 40 studies that present estimates of injury risk premiums. This critical review examines a variety of econometric issues, the role of unionization in risk premiums, and the effects of age on the value of a statistical life. Our meta-analysis indicates an income elasticity of the value of a statistical life from about 0.5 to 0.6. The paper also presents a detailed discussion of policy applications of these value of a statistical life estimates and related issues, including risk-risk analysis.     

The impact of quasi-markets on processes and factors affecting the costs of contracting

The aim of this paper is to ascertain the impact of quasi-markets on contracting processes and factors affecting the costs of contracting in Finnish health care in the specific case of laboratory services. By means of a comparative case analysis, we ascertained the changes in organizational contracting practices and identified the actions affecting the transaction costs of contracting in the case of an autonomous municipal enterprise laboratory compared with the same laboratory as a hierarchically run municipal unit. The research was conducted during the years 2007–2011. The results suggest that introducing quasi-markets into laboratory services increased the cost factors of contracting; and had a negative impact on the laboratories’ willingness to create new market relationships.     

Meeting healthcare costs: the case of childhood cancer in Singapore

Social security in Singapore is met by a compulsory personal savings scheme under the Central Provident Fund. Part of these savings go towards the individual's healthcare needs which are met through a spectrum of three schemes – Medisave, Medishield and Medifund, or the '3Ms'. This study examines the effectiveness of the '3Ms' in making healthcare services affordable to families with cancer-stricken children. The extent to which the '3Ms' support costly cancer treatment is an indication of the healthcare financing system's ability to meet diverse healthcare needs. Literature research and interviews with medical social workers and families with cancer-stricken children indicate that the '3Ms' are unable to support these families' medical needs without the help of voluntary welfare organisations. This suggests that there is a need to question a rigid adherence to financial prudence and consider a more flexible healthcare system that is responsive to varied needs.     

Do Life-Saving Regulations Save Lives?

Life-saving regulations may be counter-productive since they have an indirect mortality effect through the reduction in disposable income. This paper estimates the effect of income on mortality, controlling for the initial health status and a host of personal characteristics. The analysis is based on a random sample of the adult Swedish population of over 40,000 individuals followed up for 10–17 years. The income loss that will induce an expected fatality is estimated to be $6.8 million when the costs are borne equally among all adults, $8.4 million when the costs are borne proportionally to income and $9.8 million when the costs are borne progressively to income.     

Effects of fixed costs in two-person sequential bargaining

Rubinstein (1982) considered the problem of dividing a given surplus between two players sequentially, and then proposed a model in which the two players alternately make and respond to each other's offers through time. He further characterized the perfect equilibrium outcomes, which depend on the players time preferences and order of moves. Using both equal and unequal bargaining cost conditions and an unlimited number of rounds, two experiments were designed to compare the perfect equilibrium model to alternative models based on norms of fairness. We report analyses of final agreements, first offers, and number of bargaining rounds, which provide limited support to the perfect equilibrium model, and then conclude by recommending a shift in focus from model testing to specification of the conditions favoring one model over another.     

Estimating the fiscal costs of long‐term jobless families in Australia

Despite substantial costs to society associated with the adverse consequences of joblessness, studies estimating actual costs are rare. This paper identifies the main costs to the Government of long‐term jobless families in Australia. The costs were split into three groups: immediate support costs, immediate opportunity costs, and indirect/intergenerational costs. Using a microsimulation model, the paper estimates the fiscal costs, which include immediate support costs such as the welfare system, and the immediate opportunity costs such as potential revenue from the tax system. We estimate that welfare payments and lost taxation revenue from long‐term joblessness cost the Government AU$5.55 billion per year.     

Estimates of trade-related adjustment costs in Syria

The scope and complexity of international trading arrangements in the Middle East, as well as their spotty historical record of success, underscore the urgent need for an adequate understanding of the relative costs and benefits of participation in preferential trading arrangements and, more generally, of changes in the domestic import regimes. This paper seeks to address this problem by providing estimates of the adjustment costs associated with two broad classes of hypothetical trade policy scenarios for Syria: participation in the proposed EU-Syria Association Agreement, and border tax-related changes affecting the domestic import regime. We find that the revenue consequences of the first scenario are likely to be low if an appropriate stepwise implementation of the agreement can be ensured; our analysis of the second scenario suggests that all border taxes can be eliminated, and the number of tariff bands reduced, while ensuring revenue neutrality, if a VAT of a reasonable size is introduced.     

Difficulty in seeking information about health care quality and costs: The field of dreams fallacy

While government agencies and health organizations have increased efforts to provide online information about health care quality and costs, we know little about whether individuals seek out or understand this information. Using results from a Louisiana telephone survey (N = 1030), we examine intent to use a website devoted to information about health care quality and costs and self-reported difficulty in finding this information. Intent to use a website is driven primarily by prior Internet use while difficulty in learning about health care quality is associated with greater choice in health care providers and dissatisfaction with current care.     

Calculating the costs of local authority care for children with contrasting needs

Activity data from practitioners can be combined with financial data to develop unit costs for the eight processes that underpin social work activity for children looked after away from home. The frequency and duration of processes can then be calculated, and the data are used to cost different pathways through care. Costs vary according to children's needs, types of placements and local policies and practices. Combinations of need add to costs. This paper compares the costs accrued by children who show no evidence of additional support needs with a group of troubled children with emotional or behavioural difficulties who also commit offences. The latter show the most costly care pathways and also appear to experience the least positive outcomes, leading us to question whether different configurations of services might better meet their needs.     

Social expenditures and public administration: are local social assistance costs in Sweden a matter of organisation?

Minas R. Social expenditures and public administration: are local social assistance costs in Sweden a matter of organisation?
Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 215–224 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This study examines the connection between organisational factors and local social assistance expenditures in Swedish municipalities. The organisation of social assistance units, particularly those for the intake of social assistance inquirers, and the possible implications for local social assistance costs are highlighted. The study is based on interview data from medium‐sized Swedish municipalities combined with register data covering the years from 1997 to 2001. The results show that socioeconomic factors have an overall dominant effect, but also that organisational factors co‐vary with local social assistance expenditures. The results show a cost‐reducing effect for special intake units: firstly, when these units are analysed together with other forms of specialisation and secondly, when staff resources are taken into account. Thus, specialised intake organisation by itself does not play a cost‐reducing role, but does so in combination with certain other factors that characterise the internal organisation of the social welfare office.     

Brace yourselves: Reporting of rising food costs in the Australian print media

This paper explores media reporting of the rising food costs in five Australian newspapers in the 12 month period from 1^st September 2007 to 31^st August 2008. This period encompassed a Federal election in which rising food costs were identified as an election issue and a national inquiry into grocery pricing established to honour pre‐election promises. Content analysis of newspaper articles demonstrates an increasing interest in the print media in food prices at this time, with thematic analysis revealing the dominance of political concerns and the economic fears of the Australian public. This paper explores these issues. It compares the rhetoric and reality of rising food costs through reporting of the causes and impact of increased food prices and explores the apportioning of blame for rising food prices and the solutions which arise from this through media reporting of political and personal strategies for managing the risk of food insecurity. The paper will also identify the social processes that contributed to the newsworthiness of rising food costs at this time.     

The Fatality Risks of Sport-Utility Vehicles,Vans, and Pickups Relative to Cars

This paper examines the public health consequences of the regulatory subsidy given to light trucks. The empirical challenge is to disentangle the causal effects of light trucks from the selection bias that may occur due to drivers sorting into different vehicle types depending on their unobservable characteristics. I address this by using state variation of snow depth as an instrumental variable for vehicle miles traveled of light trucks and cars. This instrument has strong first-stage explanatory power. Since snow depth is likely a direct determinant of crashes, I meet the exclusion criteria by restricting the dependent variable to those crashes that occurred in the summer. My findings suggest that, given a crash, light trucks are more dangerous to others but less dangerous for those driving them. However, I also find that light trucks are more likely to crash than cars, which neutralizes the safety advantage to those who drive them. My estimates for aggregate fatalities suggest that a world of light trucks leads to substantially more fatalities than a world of cars.     

The time costs of children

In this study of household time allocations, Turchi argues that children play a crucial part in the trade-off that members of a household must make between time at home and the pursuit of economic gains in the marketplace. Turchi examined data collected by Baumann, Udry, and Turchi in 1977 for a study of marriage and fertility to study how families handle the time that children add to their schedules. Using the data and the theory of utility maximization from economics, the researchers were able to look at the amounts of time a group of parents reported spending in various child-related activities and the impact this had on their economic status. The average number of hours a wife devotes to various activities varies considerably with having children. For example, wives spend 21 hours/week on general housework before having children, 16 hours/week when the children are preschool age, and 13 hours/week when the children are school-age. The child-related housework increased from 0 to 26 hours with preschool children, and then decreased to 21 hours with school-age children. Child care increased to 26 hours/week with preschoolers, and decreased to 20 with school-age children. Outside employment dropped from 29 hours/week to 11 with preschoolers, and increased to 18 with school-age children. Turchi has developed a method for measuring the value of time for nonworking women; it allows more precise understanding of the factors that determine the time allocation of wives, and, in particular, their fertility decision. This method allows the estimation of the monetary value of time spent in housework and child care, which is of great interest to lawyers who specialize in personal injury and divorce cases. While findings may support the argument that individuals who grow up without siblings are more successful, more intelligent, and better educated because of more quality time from parents, Turchi offers a different interpretation. He suggests that sharing a parent's time with siblings also results in quality time spent with a child. 2 children do not necessarily double the time costs of 1. He further argues than the psychological costs per child may even drop as family size increases.     

A Comparison of Child Fatalities by Physical Abuse Versus Neglect: Child,Family, Service,and Worker Characteristics

ABSTRACT

In the field of child welfare, attention has been given to risk factors for child maltreatment fatalities with little attention to the difference between children who die from abuse versus neglect. As part of a larger study, child welfare workers (n = 104) from 14 different states responded to an anonymous online survey that described the child, family, and case characteristics before death and worker characteristics/experiences before and after death. Results supported that prior to death, neglectful families presented with less risk than abusive families, in the areas of parent–child attachment, child behavior problems, and changes in household composition while reporting that they received more services. With regard to child welfare practice, workers did not report any differences in how they handled cases before death nor did they report differences in their posttraumatic stress symptoms at the time of the survey. These findings can be used as a springboard for future research that focuses on fatal maltreatment.     

Macroeconomic imbalances in Europe: How to overcome the fallacy of unit labour costs

Policy recommendations based on unit labour costs (ULC) indices can lead to undesirable and counterproductive policies, because they do not reveal possible distortions in the base year. In this paper, we discuss the problems with the ULC-current account relation and provide an alternative measure for relative wage costs called Wage Competitive index (WCI) based on the assumption of convergence of the returns on capital. We show how to calculate it and that it is more efficient than traditional ULC and REER indicators. The implication is that policymakers should not focus on nominal wage setting only, but also more broadly on all factors which affect the return on capital. This implies that the well-known Rehn–Meidner rule, which underlies the Macroeconomic Dialogue should be modified.     

The economic costs of US stock mispricing

The USAGE model for the United States is used to quantify economic costs due to stock mispricing, made operational by shocking Tobin's q. The simulations quantify a potentially large impact even in the most favorable environment, where export demand holds up, and, the dollar is pro-cyclical. A two-year investment boom in two sectors increases consumption by a Net Present Value (NPV) amount of nearly one per cent, due to a positive investment externality onto the US terms of trade. If the investment is wasted, however, the consumption loss is nearly one-half of a per cent. A 5-year ‘capital strike’ across the whole economy subsequent to the boom - mimicking financial distress from a burst bubble - shaves around 10 per cent off consumption. Given these significant costs associated with “boom” and “bust” equity markets, we consider some, policy options that might result in greater stability in these markets.     

我国制造业产业关联及网络效应研究——基于投入产出法与社会网络分析法的对比

利用国家统计局颁布的《2007年中国投入产出表》,考察我国制造业产业关联特征;并基于投入产出表中直接消耗系数表,运用社会网络分析方法,对制造业细分行业间的网络效应和网络结构特征进行分析,揭示产业间网络结构内在机理。总体来看,制造业产业部门的影响力系数、感应度系数均呈增长的态势;高新技术产业影响力系数明显上升,感应度系数也有所上升;重工业部门感应度系数排名稳居前列;轻工业中除纺织业外,感应度系数变化不大。     

Paved with Good Intentions: The Pathway to Adoption and the Costs of Delay

The thrust of UK adoption policy is to promote adoption as thebest route to a stable family life for children in the caresystem unable to return to their birth families. However, whatwe know about outcomes for adopted children comes mainly fromstudies that report on children already in placement. This articlereports on the findings of a study that examined the outcomesof a complete sample of 130 older looked after children whohad all been the subject of an adoption best interest decision.Many were successfully placed but, of those who were not, thestudy was able to identify factors that influenced placementoutcome. The negative impact on placement outcomes and the increasedfinancial costs of poor assessment and delays in planning andaction are highlighted in this paper. The reasons why delaysoccurred, the costs of those delays and the impact on childoutcomes lend support to recent government attempts to reducedelay by the introduction of timescales into the adoption process.     

The effect of probabilistic demands on the structure of cost functions

Firms that provide capacity to meet randomly fluctuating demand typically will not be producing on the efficient frontier of their production possibilities sets. Consequently, the standard dual theory of cost and production is inapplicable. This article provides an alternative that leaves most of the theory intact provided that firms are viewed as producing the probability of providing service rather than an explicit produced output. As an application we show that for a telecommunications firm facing a network externality it is quite possible to find something that looks like negative marginal cost.The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author alone and do not necessarily represent the opinions of GTE or any of its subsidiaries. I'd like to thank Kip Viscusi, Dave Salant, Glenn Woroch, and Larry Cole for various comments. To Roger Tobin, my coauthor on other parts of this study, I give a particular thanks.