Public Values in Risk Debates |
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Authors: | Ward Edwards Detlof von Winterfeldt |
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Institution: | Social Science Research Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1111. |
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Abstract: | Both the issues inherent in regulation of specific risks and the contexts in which such regulatory processes occur are often characterized by confusion and controversy. Tools based on multiattribute utility measurement (MAUT) can help to clarify public values in risk debates and thus to facilitate option invention and decision making. Stakeholder group representatives, in interaction with an analyst, structure their values relevant to the problem into a value tree. The analyst prepares a common tree, iterating until all stakeholder representatives accept it. Stakeholders express their values as weights on the common tree. This provides a basis for option invention and negotiation. The paper presents three illustrative applications. |
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Keywords: | Risk communication risk regulation multiattribute utility stakeholder group values public values value conflicts |
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