Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Elsevier
Faculty
Faculty of Business and Law
School
School of Accounting, Finance and Economics / Centre for Innovative Practice
RAS ID
12631
Abstract
The magnitude of the value of astatisticallife (VSL) is critical to the evaluation of many health and safety initiatives. To date, the large and rigorous VSL research literature has not explicitly accommodated publication selectivity bias (i.e., the reduced probability that insignificant or negative VSL values are reported). This study demonstrates that doing so is essential. For studies that employ hedonic wage equations to estimate VSL, correction for selection bias reduces the average value of astatisticallife by 70–80%. Our meta-regression analysis also identifies several sources for the wide heterogeneity found among reported VSL estimates.
DOI
10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.10.001
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of: Doucouliagos, C., Stanley, T., & Giles, M. J. (2011). Are estimates of the value of a statistical life exaggerated? Journal of Health Economics, 31(1), 197-206. Available here