Opportunity cost of time and value of human life in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast

Obin Angbo () and François Gardes ()
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Obin Angbo: University of Angers
François Gardes: Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University

Economics Bulletin, 2025, vol. 45, issue 4, 2032 - 2040

Abstract: The monetary valuation of human life is both controversial and complex, giving rise to passionate debate and profound ethical dilemmas. This article uses a new method to measure the value of human life based on a marginal valuation of the individual's available time over her life cycle. The results of an empirical application carried out in two African countries on microeconomic data reveal a significant divergence in the valuation of human life compared to accumulated GDP per capita. This finding calls into question the usual ethical considerations and social equity thesis and shows that this individual estimation of the value of human life may be an interesting indicator for public choice.

Keywords: Opportunity cost of time; pseudo-panel; inter-temporal substitution rate; value of human life; Ivory Coast; Burkina Faso (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12-30
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