The effect of information on health risk valuations

This article examines the effect of familiarity with chronic lung disease on people's willingness to pay to reduce their risk of contracting chronic bronchitis, and on their willingness to increase their risk of auto death to reduce chronic bronchitis risk. We find that persons who have a relative with chronic lung disease are willing to give up more income to reduce their risk of chronic bronchitis than persons with no first-hand knowledge of the disease; however, their willingness to increase their risk of auto death to reduce their risk of chronic bronchitis is no different, on average, than persons with no first-hand knowledge of lung disease. This suggests that responses to risk-risk tradeoffs may be more stable than responses to risk-income choices.This research was sponsored by Resources for the Future and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation, Alan Carlin and Joel Scheraga, project officers. We thank Robert Mitchell for his help in conducting focus groups, and Caroline Harnett and Sari Radin for research assistance. Stan Presser, Sue Dowden, and Tim Triplett of the University of Maryland's Survey Research Center administered the survey. We especially thank Stan Presser for his suggestion that we sample relatives of people with chronic lung disease. We also thank Kip Viscusi, Wes Magat, and Joel Huber for making available their computer programs and data, and Ajay Kalra for programming help. Paul Portney and John Mullahy provided useful comments on an earlier draff of the article, as did two referees.     

Real or imagined - Black women's experiences in the Academy

This is a reflective and reflexive account of the individual and shared work experiences of three Black female Senior Lecturers working in higher education. Through the process of sharing our common experiences we not only make visible the details of the race and gender oppression we face, but also the acts of resistance we engage in within the academic community. We draw on our understanding of Black feminist principles and ideas to explore and analyse our experiences as Black professional women; this exploration is central to the development of the strategies that we propose. These strategies, we believe will enable Black women and others engaged in the process of change to continually challenge and resist the oppressive power relations that characterise academic environments. Ici nous donnons un compte rendu réflexif qui s'agit des expériences non seulement collectives entre trois conférencières Noires universitaires, mais aussi des expériences plutôt privées de cettes chercheuses. Par le processus de partager de cette façon nos expériences nous faisons visible l'oppression raciste et sexiste qui se presente dans la vie quotidienne. En meme temps on essaye de souligner la résistance dans laquelle on s'engage dans la communauté scolaire. Par notre compréhension des principes et des idées féministes nous sommes capables d'explorer et d'analyser nos expériences en tant que femmes Noires professionelles. En plus, cette exploration est centrale au développement des stratégies que nous proposons. Nous croyons que par cettes stratégies les Noires (et les femmes en général qui sont engagées dans les efforts d'effectuer le changement) auront le pouvoir de lancer un défi continuel et de résister l'abus de pouvoir accablant qui existe àchaque moment dans les environnements scolaires.     

Parallel processes in researching and assessing potential carers

This paper proposes a model for assessing potential parents, based on our research and practice in which we examined current methods of assessment in the light of anti-oppressive principles and methods. We participated in and observed the work of two differing fostering and adoption agencies, and have drawn from our experiences and analysis to produce a pattern for assessment which critically draws on best practices. The paper also draws on previously published papers which discuss theories of research and assessment (Clifford 1992–93; Clifford 1994; Clifford 1995; Clifford & Cropper 1994), and draws a parallel between the processes of research and those of assessment. Our view is that research methods provide a foundation for assessment methods in various ways, mutually illuminating oppressive and anti-oppressive processes.     

Age, Health and the Willingness to Pay for Mortality Risk Reductions: A Contingent Valuation Survey of Ontario Residents

We present the results of a contingent valuation survey eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) for mortality risk reductions. The survey was self-administered using a computer by 930 persons in Hamilton Ontario aged 40 to 75. Visual and audio aides were used to enhance risk comprehension. Mean WTP figures for a contemporaneous risk reduction imply a value of a statistical life of approximately C$l.2 to C$3.8 million (1999 C$). Mean WTP is constant with age up to 70 years, and is about 30 percent lower for persons aged 70 and older. WTP is unaffected by physical health status, but is affected by mental health.     

Public Choices Between Life Saving Programs: The Tradeoff Between Qualitative Factors and Lives Saved

In a telephone survey 1000 adults were confronted with pairs of life saving programs that differed in number of lives saved and asked which program in each pair they would choose to implement. Respondents were also asked to rate qualitative program characteristics on 10 point scales. For most respondents, lives saved are significant in explaining program choices, as are psychological risk characteristics. The rate of technical substitution between these characteristics and lives saved is, however, inelastic. It is noteworthy that for about 20 percent of respondents, choices among programs appear to be insensitive to lives saved.     

Discounting and the evaluation of lifesaving programs

The evaluation of lifesaving programs whose benefits extend into the future involves two discounting issues. The intragenerational discounting problem is how to express, in age-j dollars, reductions in an individual's conditional probability of dying at some future age k. Having discounted future lifesaving benefits to the beginning of each individual's life, one is faced with the problem of discounting these benefits to the present—the intergenerational discounting problem. We discuss both problems from the perspectives of cost-benefit and costeffectiveness analyses. These principles are then applied to lifesaving programs that involve a latency period.The authors are, respectively, Associate Professor of Economics, Univesity of Maryland and Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future; and Senior Fellow and Vice President, Resources for the Future. We thank the National Science Foundation for their support under grant DIR-8711083.     

The value of mortality risk reductions in Delhi,India

We interviewed commuters in Delhi, India, to estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce their risk of dying in road traffic accidents in three scenarios that mirror the circumstances under which traffic fatalities occur in Delhi. The WTP responses are internally valid: WTP increases with the size of the risk reduction, income, and exposure to road traffic risks, as measured by length of commute and whether the respondent drives a motorcycle. As a result, the value of a statistical life (VSL) varies across groups of beneficiaries. For the most highly-exposed individuals the VSL is about 150,000 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars.

Willingness to pay for mortality risk reductions: Does latency matter?

Using results from two contingent valuation surveys conducted in Canada and the U.S., we explore the effect of a latency period on willingness to pay (WTP) for reduced mortality risk using a structural model. We find that delaying the time at which the risk reduction occurs by 10 to 30 years reduces WTP by more than 60% for respondents in both samples aged 40 to 60 years. The implicit discount rates are equal to 3.0–8.6% for Canada and 1.3–5.6% for the U.S. JEL Classification Q51 · Q58 The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the USEPA or of the World Bank, its Executive Directors or the countries they represent.     

Mentoring as an inclusive device for the excluded: Black students' experience of a mentoring scheme

I have been involved in co-ordinating mentoring schemes at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan) for a number of years. One of these schemes has been aimed at peer support for new students on an access course within the Social Work Department based in the Faculty of Health. A high percentage of these students come from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. This scheme has been evaluated with those involved using a range of methods including focus groups, interviews and questionnaires. This paper commences with an examination of the current educational climate and context for black students accessing higher education, focusing on issues of exclusion and inclusion. Mentoring theory and practice are then explored with an emphasis on an evaluation of the scheme above. Finally, some of the current contradictions and tensions within mentoring as an inclusive strategy are discussed, with a focus on rethinking mentoring by drawing on black feminist theory and practice.     

Preferences for life saving programs: how the public discounts time and age

In surveys of 3,000 households, we have found that people attach less importance to saving lives in the future than to saving lives today, and less importance to saving older persons than to saving younger persons. For the median respondent, saving six people in 25 years is equivalent to saving one person today, while for a horizon of 100 years, 45 persons must be saved for every person saved today. The age of those saved also matters; however, respondents do not weight lives saved by number of life-years remaining: For the median respondent, saving one 20-year-old is equivalent to saving seven 60-year-olds.