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  3. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
  4. January 2017
  5. Risky Transportation Choices and the Value of a Statistical Life

Risky Transportation Choices and the Value of a Statistical Life

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Abstract

This paper exploits an unusual transportation setting to generate some of the first revealed preference value of a statistical life (VSL) estimates from a low-income setting. We estimate the trade-offs individuals are willing to make between mortality risk and cost as they travel to and from the international airport in Sierra Leone. The setting and original dataset allow us to address some typical omitted variable concerns, and also to compare VSL estimates for travelers from different countries, all facing the same choice situation. The average VSL estimate for African travelers in the sample is US$ 577,000 compared to US$ 924,000 for non-Africans.

Citation

León, Gianmarco, and Edward Miguel. 2017. "Risky Transportation Choices and the Value of a Statistical Life." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9 (1): 202-28. DOI: 10.1257/app.20160140

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I12 Health Behavior
  • J17 Value of Life; Forgone Income
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
  • O18 Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
  • R41 Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise
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