Are Some Lives More Valuable?

Olof Johansson-Stenman () and Peter Martinsson

No 96, Working Papers in Economics from University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: A theoretical model of the ethical preferences of individuals is tested by conducting a choice experiment on safety-enhancing road investments. The relative value of a saved life is found to decrease with age, such that the present value of a saved year of life is almost independent of age at a pure rate of time preference of a few percent, and a saved car driver is valued 17-31% lower than a pedestrian of the same age. Moreover, individuals’ ethical preferences seem to be fairly homogenous.

Keywords: Ethics; social preferences; individual social welfare function; relative value of life; random ethical model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 I18 J17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2003-03-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-hea, nep-ltv and nep-mic
Note: Published in Journal of Health Economics, 2208, Vol. 27, pp. 739-752.
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Journal of Health Economics, 2008, pages 739-752.

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