The Marginal Willingness to Pay for Longevity: A Better Way to Value Changes in Mortality Hazard

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Research in Law and Economics

ISSN: 0193-5895
Series editor(s): Professor James Langenfeld

Subject Area: Business Ethics and Law

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Document Information:
Title:	The Marginal Willingness to Pay for Longevity: A Better Way to Value Changes in Mortality Hazard
Author(s):	Neil Bruce, Robert Halvorsen
Volume:	23 Editor(s): Richard O. Zerbe ISBN: 978-0-7623-1363-1 eISBN: 978-1-84950-455-3
Citation:	Neil Bruce, Robert Halvorsen (2007), The Marginal Willingness to Pay for Longevity: A Better Way to Value Changes in Mortality Hazard, in Richard O. Zerbe (ed.) Research in Law and Economics (Research in Law and Economics, Volume 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.273-299
DOI:	10.1016/S0193-5895(07)23012-X (Permanent URL)
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Article type:	Chapter Item
Abstract:	One of the most contentious issues concerning benefit–cost analyses of environmental and other regulatory programs has been the valuation of reductions in mortality risks. The conceptual basis for most valuation exercises has been the value of a statistical life (VSL). However, despite decades of both theoretical and empirical research on the meaning and measurement of the VSL concept, there is no consensus concerning the validity of the results it produces in actual applications. In this paper, we review the development and application of the VSL approach and then propose what we believe to be a better way to value changes in mortality hazard.