- Title
- Estimating the Value of a Statistical Life: The Importance of Omitted Variables and Publication Bias
- Author(s)
- Orley Ashenfelter Orley Ashenfelter (Princeton University and NBER)
- Michael Greenstone Michael Greenstone (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and American Bar Association and NBER)
- Abstract
- In this paper we show that omitted variables and publication bias lead to severely biased estimates of the value of a statistical life. Although our empirical results are obtained in the context of a study of choices about road safety, we suspect that the same issues plague the estimation of monetary trade-offs regarding safety in other contexts.
- Creation Date
- 2004-01
- Section URL ID
- IRS
- Paper Number
- 479
- URL
- https://dataspace.princeton.edu/bitstream/88435/dsp018336h1898/1/479.pdf
- File Function
- Jel
- P48, P49, P5, P50, P51
- Keyword(s)
- value of a statistical life, publication bias, speed limits, safety risks, value of time
- Suppress
- false
- Series
- 1