scholarly journals Estimating the Values of Mortality Risk Reductions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Mortality Risks ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
Value Per Statistical Life ◽  
Low And Middle Income

The value of small changes in mortality risks, generally expressed as the value per statistical life, is an important parameter in benefit-cost analysis. However, little is known about the values held by populations in low- and middle-income countries. This article introduces a symposium that includes three additional articles which explore related theory and research.

scholarly journals Valuing Mortality Risk Reductions in Global Benefit-Cost Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (S1) ◽  
pp. 15-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Robinson ◽  
James K. Hammitt ◽  
Lucy O’Keeffe
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Income Elasticity ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Income Differences ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
The Past ◽  
Benefit Cost

The estimates used to value mortality risk reductions are a major determinant of the benefits of many public health and environmental policies. These estimates (typically expressed as the value per statistical life, VSL) describe the willingness of those affected by a policy to exchange their own income for the risk reductions they experience. While these values are relatively well studied in high-income countries, less is known about the values held by lower-income populations. We identify 26 studies conducted in the 172 countries considered low- or middle-income in any of the past 20 years; several have significant limitations. Thus there are few or no direct estimates of VSL for most such countries. Instead, analysts typically extrapolate values from wealthier countries, adjusting only for income differences. This extrapolation requires selecting a base value and an income elasticity that summarizes the rate at which VSL changes with income. Because any such approach depends on assumptions of uncertain validity, we recommend that analysts conduct a standardized sensitivity analysis to assess the extent to which their conclusions change depending on these estimates. In the longer term, more research on the value of mortality risk reductions in low- and middle-income countries is essential.

scholarly journals Standardized Sensitivity Analysis in BCA: An Education Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (S1) ◽  
pp. 206-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Pradhan ◽  
Dean T. Jamison
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Complete Analysis ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Mortality Risks ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Net Benefits ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Benefit Cost

Benefit-cost analyses of education policies in low- and middle-income countries have historically used the effect of education on future wages to estimate benefits. Strong evidence also points to female education reducing both the under-five mortality rates of their children and adult mortality rates. A more complete analysis would thus add the value of mortality risk reduction to wage increases. This paper estimates how net benefits and benefit-cost ratios respond to the values used to estimate education’s mortality-reducing impact including variation in these estimates. We utilize a ‘standardized sensitivity analysis’ to generate a range of valuations of education’s impact on mortality risks. We include alternative ways of adjusting these values for income and age differences. Our analysis is for one additional year of schooling in lower-middle-income countries, incremental to the current mean. Our analysis shows a range of benefit-cost ratios ranging from 3.2 to 6.7, and net benefits ranging from $2,800 to $7,300 per student. Benefits from mortality risk reductions account for 40% to 70% of the overall benefits depending on the scenario. Thus, accounting for changes in mortality risks in addition to wage increases noticeably enhances the value of already attractive education investments.

scholarly journals Conducting Benefit-Cost Analysis in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Introduction to the Special Issue

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa A. Robinson ◽  
James K. Hammitt ◽  
Dean T. Jamison ◽  
Damian G. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Reference Case ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
Health And Development ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
Global Health And Development

Investing in global health and development requires making difficult choices about what policies to pursue and what level of resources to devote to different initiatives. Methods of economic evaluation are well established and widely used to quantify and compare the impacts of alternative investments. However, if not well conducted and clearly reported, these evaluations can lead to erroneous conclusions. Differences in analytic methods and assumptions can obscure important differences in impacts. To increase the comparability of these evaluations, improve their quality, and expand their use, this special issue includes a series of papers developed to support reference case guidance for benefit-cost analysis. In this introductory article, we discuss the background and context for this work, summarize the process we are following, describe the overall framework, and introduce the articles that follow.

scholarly journals What is the meaning of (statistical) life? Benefit–cost analysis in the time of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S56-S63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Colmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Benefits ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Mortality Risks ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
The Social ◽  
Morbidity Risks ◽  
Public Policy Decisions ◽  
Benefit Cost

Abstract Efforts to support public policy decisions need to be conducted carefully and thoughtfully. Recent efforts to estimate the social benefits of reductions in mortality risks associated with COVID-19 interventions are likely understated. There are large uncertainties over how much larger the social benefits could be. This raises questions about how helpful conventional approaches to valuing mortality and morbidity risks for benefit–cost analyses can be in contexts such as the current crisis.

scholarly journals Extrapolating the Value Per Statistical Life Between Populations: Theoretical Implications

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Hammitt
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Mortality Risk ◽  
Support Networks ◽  
Informal Support ◽  
Age Dependence ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
Value Per Statistical Life

Extrapolation of estimates of the value per statistical life (VSL) from high- to low- or middle-income populations requires attention to the possible effects of differences in income, current mortality risk, health, life expectancy, and many other factors. The standard theoretical model of VSL implies that VSL increases with income and decreases with current mortality risk. The effect of mortality risk is likely to be negligible while the effect of income is large and poorly quantified. Effects of differences in life expectancy and health are theoretically ambiguous. Effects of other factors, including differences in health care, formal and informal support networks, and cultural or religious factors that affect preferences for spending on oneself or others may be important but are unknown. Practical issues include choice of the most appropriate measure of income and possible differences in the patterns of age dependence between populations.

scholarly journals Taking “All Men Are Created Equal” Seriously: Toward a Metric for the Intergroup Comparison of Utility Functions Through Life Values

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
David Courard-Hauri ◽  
Stephen A. Lauer
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Wage Differential ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Robust Estimate ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Marginal Value ◽  
Statistical Life ◽  
Intergroup Comparison ◽  
Societal Level ◽  
Benefit Cost

The use of wage differential techniques to estimate the value of a statistical life (VSL) leads to the conclusion that willingness to pay for risk reduction increases with income. However, the use of this result in policy-relevant calculations, such as benefit-cost analysis, has led to criticism among ethicists and the lay public, at the same time as it has been defended in the economic literature. In this paper, we argue that differential valuation measures not a differential value that individuals place upon their own lives, but a differential value that they place upon marginal economic resources. Using two sets of VSL estimates from metastudies, we provide an initial estimate of the relative marginal value of income, allowing interpersonal comparison at the societal level. With these results, we propose an empirically determined, ethically justifiable social welfare function that can be easily incorporated into benefit-cost analysis and that has important implications for development economics, although more work is necessary to provide a robust estimate.

Cost Analysis of the Mongolian ATLS© Program: A Framework for Low- and Middle-Income Countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 353-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack E. Kornfeld ◽  
Micah G. Katz ◽  
James R. Cardinal ◽  
Batsaikhan Bat-Erdene ◽  
Gerelmaa Jargalsaikhan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income
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