The Value of a Statistical Life for Transportation Regulations: A Test of the Benefits Transfer Methodology

39 Pages Posted: 1 Jul 2014

See all articles by W. Kip Viscusi

W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt University - Law School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Science - Department of Economics; Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management; Vanderbilt University - Strategy and Business Economics

Elissa Philip Gentry

Florida State University - College of Law; Toulouse School of Economics; Florida State University - Department of Economics

Date Written: June 30, 2014

Abstract

Policy applications of the value of a statistical life (VSL) often make a benefits transfer assumption that the VSL from one market context is broadly applicable to other contexts as in the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s estimate of $9.1 million based on labor market estimates of VSL. This article examines whether there are any significant differences by the nature of the fatality in the labor market estimates of VSL utilizing two different approaches that distinguish transportation-related events and vehicle-related source fatalities based on the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) data. The labor market estimates of VSL generalize across these two contexts so that is appropriate to use labor market estimates of VSL to value the benefits of transport regulations. This result holds even after accounting for the level and composition of nonfatal job injuries.

Keywords: value of a statistical life, VSL, benefits transfer, CFOI, transportation, fatality, injury

JEL Classification: I18, J17, J30

Suggested Citation

Viscusi, W. Kip and Gentry, Elissa Philip, The Value of a Statistical Life for Transportation Regulations: A Test of the Benefits Transfer Methodology (June 30, 2014). Vanderbilt Law and Economics Research Paper No. 14-21, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2460837 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2460837

W. Kip Viscusi (Contact Author)

Vanderbilt University - Law School ( email )

131 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203-1181
United States
615-343-7715 (Phone)
615-322-5953 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://law.vanderbilt.edu/bio/?pid=w-kip-viscusi

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Vanderbilt University - College of Arts and Science - Department of Economics

Box 1819 Station B
Nashville, TN 37235
United States
(615) 343-7715 (Phone)
(615) 343-5953 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://as.vanderbilt.edu/economics/bio/wkip-viscusi/

Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of Management

401 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
United States
(615) 343-7715 (Phone)
(615) 343-5953 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://business.vanderbilt.edu/bio/w-kip-viscusi/

Vanderbilt University - Strategy and Business Economics

Nashville, TN 37203
United States

Elissa Philip Gentry

Florida State University - College of Law ( email )

425 W. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32306
United States

Toulouse School of Economics ( email )

Toulouse
France

Florida State University - Department of Economics ( email )

Tallahassee, FL 30306-2180
United States

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