The Cold-War Origins of the Value of Statistical Life

摘要

This feature addresses the history of economic terms and ideas. The hope is to deepen the workaday dialogue of economists, while perhaps also casting new light on ongoing questions. The value of statistical life (VSL) is a concept used in benefit-cost analysis by government and intergovernmental agencies around the world to place monetary values on changes in premature deaths. Common applications include the estimation of benefits of highway traffic safety measures and reductions in air pollution. Typically, these mortality values comprise the lion's share of the estimated benefits of such investments (for example, US EPA 2011). For introductions to the VSL literature, useful starting points are Ashenfelter (2006), Blomquist (forthcoming), Hammitt (2000), Viscusi (2011), and Viscusi and Aldy (2003).