The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch
Observed tradeoffs between monetary returns and fatality risk identify estimates of the valueof a statistical life (VSL), which inform public policy and quantify preferences for environmentalquality, health and safety. To date, few investigations have estimated the VSL associated withtradeoffs betwe...
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ftissuelab:oai:harvest.issuelab.org:18356 2023-05-15T18:06:10+02:00 The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch Kurt E. Schnier Ronald G. Felthoven William C. Horrace North America / United States (Western) / Alaska 2009-10-10 pdf https://issuelab.org/resources/18356/18356.pdf https://issuelab.org/permalink/resource/18356 eng eng Syracuse University https://www.issuelab.org/resources/18356/pdf_cover_285.png https://issuelab.org/resources/18356/18356.pdf https://issuelab.org/permalink/resource/18356 Copyright 2009 Syracuse University. Energy and Environment report 2009 ftissuelab 2022-01-09T08:51:35Z Observed tradeoffs between monetary returns and fatality risk identify estimates of the valueof a statistical life (VSL), which inform public policy and quantify preferences for environmentalquality, health and safety. To date, few investigations have estimated the VSL associated withtradeoffs between returns from natural resource extraction activities and the fatality risks theyinvolve. Furthermore researchers have been unable to determine whether or not one's VSL is stableacross multiple decision environments using revealed preference methods. Understanding thesetradeoffs (and the VSL that they imply) may be used to inform resource management policy andsafety regulations, as well as our general understanding of the value of life. By modeling a commercial fishing captain's choice to fish or not, conditional on the observed risk, this research investigates these topics using data from the Alaskan red king crab and snow crab fisheries. Using weather conditions and policy variables as instruments, our estimates of the mean VSL range from $4.00M to $4.76M (depending on the modeling assumption and fishery analyzed) and are robust to the incorporation of heterogeneous preferences. Furthermore, given the unique nature of the data we are able to conduct an intra-vessel comparison of the VSL and conclude that for roughly 92% of thefishermen observed in the data set their VSL estimates are stable across both fisheries. Report Red king crab Snow crab Alaska IssueLab (Nonprofit Research) |
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Energy and Environment |
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Energy and Environment Kurt E. Schnier Ronald G. Felthoven William C. Horrace The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch |
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Energy and Environment |
description |
Observed tradeoffs between monetary returns and fatality risk identify estimates of the valueof a statistical life (VSL), which inform public policy and quantify preferences for environmentalquality, health and safety. To date, few investigations have estimated the VSL associated withtradeoffs between returns from natural resource extraction activities and the fatality risks theyinvolve. Furthermore researchers have been unable to determine whether or not one's VSL is stableacross multiple decision environments using revealed preference methods. Understanding thesetradeoffs (and the VSL that they imply) may be used to inform resource management policy andsafety regulations, as well as our general understanding of the value of life. By modeling a commercial fishing captain's choice to fish or not, conditional on the observed risk, this research investigates these topics using data from the Alaskan red king crab and snow crab fisheries. Using weather conditions and policy variables as instruments, our estimates of the mean VSL range from $4.00M to $4.76M (depending on the modeling assumption and fishery analyzed) and are robust to the incorporation of heterogeneous preferences. Furthermore, given the unique nature of the data we are able to conduct an intra-vessel comparison of the VSL and conclude that for roughly 92% of thefishermen observed in the data set their VSL estimates are stable across both fisheries. |
format |
Report |
author |
Kurt E. Schnier Ronald G. Felthoven William C. Horrace |
author_facet |
Kurt E. Schnier Ronald G. Felthoven William C. Horrace |
author_sort |
Kurt E. Schnier |
title |
The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch |
title_short |
The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch |
title_full |
The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch |
title_fullStr |
The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Value of Statistical Life: Pursuing the Deadliest Catch |
title_sort |
value of statistical life: pursuing the deadliest catch |
publisher |
Syracuse University |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://issuelab.org/resources/18356/18356.pdf https://issuelab.org/permalink/resource/18356 |
op_coverage |
North America / United States (Western) / Alaska |
genre |
Red king crab Snow crab Alaska |
genre_facet |
Red king crab Snow crab Alaska |
op_relation |
https://www.issuelab.org/resources/18356/pdf_cover_285.png https://issuelab.org/resources/18356/18356.pdf https://issuelab.org/permalink/resource/18356 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2009 Syracuse University. |
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1766177760376520704 |