The value of a statistical life under changes in ambiguity

Springer Science and Business Media LLC - Tập 58 - Trang 1-15 - 2019
Han Bleichrodt1,2, Christophe Courbage3,4, Béatrice Rey5
1Erasmus School of Economics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2Research School of Economics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
3Haute Ecole de Gestion de Genève, Carouge, Switzerland
4University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Delémont, Switzerland
5Univ Lyon, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Ecully, France

Tóm tắt

The value of a statistical life (VSL) is a key parameter in the analysis of government policy. Most policy decisions are made under ambiguity. This paper studies the effect of changes in ambiguity perception on the VSL. We propose a definition of increases in ambiguity perception based on Ekern’s (1980) definition of increases in risk. Ambiguity aversion alone is not sufficient to lead to an increase in the VSL when the decision maker perceives more ambiguity. Our results highlight the importance of higher order ambiguity attitudes, particularly ambiguity prudence.

Tài liệu tham khảo

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