Health risk and the value of life

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bauer, Daniel; Lakdawalla, Darius; Reif, Julian
• 署名单位: University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; University of Southern California; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105346
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Value of life; Health behavior; prevention; Quality-adjusted life-year

摘要

We extend the conventional life-cycle framework for valuing health and longevity improvements to a stochastic setting with multiple health states and apply it to data on mortality, quality of life, labor earnings, and medical spending for adults with different comorbidities. We find that sick adults are willing to pay nearly twice as much per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) to reduce mortality risk as healthy adults, and that reducing the risk of serious illness is valued similarly to reducing the risk of mild illness. Our results provide a rational explanation for why people oppose a single threshold value for rationing care and why they invest less in prevention than in treatment.