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Dread and Risk Elimination Premium for the Value of a Statistical Life

OLOFSSON, SARA LU ; Gerdtham, Ulf LU orcid ; Hultkrantz, Lars and Persson, Ulf (2016) In Working Papers
Abstract
The Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) is a widely used measure of the value of mortality risk reduction. Since VSL should reflect preferences and attitudes to risk, there are reasons to believe that it varies depending on the type of risk involved. It has been argued that cancer should be considered a “dread disease”, which supports the use of a “cancer premium”. The objective of this study is to elicit the existence and size of a cancer premium (for pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma) in relation to road traffic accidents, sudden cardiac arrest and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Data was collected from 500 individuals in the Swedish general population 50 -74 years old using a web-based questionnaire. Preferences were elicited... (More)
The Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) is a widely used measure of the value of mortality risk reduction. Since VSL should reflect preferences and attitudes to risk, there are reasons to believe that it varies depending on the type of risk involved. It has been argued that cancer should be considered a “dread disease”, which supports the use of a “cancer premium”. The objective of this study is to elicit the existence and size of a cancer premium (for pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma) in relation to road traffic accidents, sudden cardiac arrest and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Data was collected from 500 individuals in the Swedish general population 50 -74 years old using a web-based questionnaire. Preferences were elicited using the Contingent Valuation method, and a split-sample design was applied to test for scale sensitivity. VSL differs significantly between contexts, being highest for ALS and lowest for road traffic accident. A premium (26-76 %) for cancer was found in relation to road traffic accidents, but not in relation to ALS and sudden cardiac arrest. The premium was higher for cancer with a shorter time from diagnosis to death. Eliminating risk was associated with a premium of around 17 %. Evidence of scale sensitivity was found when comparing WTP for all risks simultaneously. This study shows that there exist a dread premium and risk elimination premium. These factors should be considered when searching for an appropriate value for economic evaluation and health technology assessment. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
willingness to pay, value of a statistical life, cancer, contingent valuation, risk elimination, D61, D80, I18, J17
in
Working Papers
issue
2016:22
pages
36 pages
publisher
Department of Economics, Lund University
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0a1332ef-8c9f-48d0-906e-c2d793ca825c
alternative location
http://swopec.hhs.se/lunewp/abs/lunewp2016_022.htm
date added to LUP
2016-09-30 14:00:11
date last changed
2019-06-19 09:29:35
@misc{0a1332ef-8c9f-48d0-906e-c2d793ca825c,
  abstract     = {{The Value of a Statistical Life (VSL) is a widely used measure of the value of mortality risk reduction. Since VSL should reflect preferences and attitudes to risk, there are reasons to believe that it varies depending on the type of risk involved. It has been argued that cancer should be considered a “dread disease”, which supports the use of a “cancer premium”. The objective of this study is to elicit the existence and size of a cancer premium (for pancreatic cancer and multiple myeloma) in relation to road traffic accidents, sudden cardiac arrest and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Data was collected from 500 individuals in the Swedish general population 50 -74 years old using a web-based questionnaire. Preferences were elicited using the Contingent Valuation method, and a split-sample design was applied to test for scale sensitivity. VSL differs significantly between contexts, being highest for ALS and lowest for road traffic accident. A premium (26-76 %) for cancer was found in relation to road traffic accidents, but not in relation to ALS and sudden cardiac arrest. The premium was higher for cancer with a shorter time from diagnosis to death. Eliminating risk was associated with a premium of around 17 %. Evidence of scale sensitivity was found when comparing WTP for all risks simultaneously. This study shows that there exist a dread premium and risk elimination premium. These factors should be considered when searching for an appropriate value for economic evaluation and health technology assessment.}},
  author       = {{OLOFSSON, SARA and Gerdtham, Ulf and Hultkrantz, Lars and Persson, Ulf}},
  keywords     = {{willingness to pay; value of a statistical life; cancer; contingent valuation; risk elimination; D61; D80; I18; J17}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2016:22}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Economics, Lund University}},
  series       = {{Working Papers}},
  title        = {{Dread and Risk Elimination Premium for the Value of a Statistical Life}},
  url          = {{http://swopec.hhs.se/lunewp/abs/lunewp2016_022.htm}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}