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American Law and Economics Review V2 N1 2000 (195-210)
© 2000 American Law and Economics Association

Article

The value of life in legal contexts: survey and critique

V Kip Viscusi

Hauser 302, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Fax: (617) 495 3010
E-mail: kip@law.harvard.edu

Abstract

Value of life issues traditionally pertain to insurance of the losses of accident victims, for which replacement of the economic loss is often an appropriate concept. Deterrence measures of the value of life focus on risk-money tradeoffs involving small changes in risk. Using market data for risky jobs and product risk contexts often yields substantial estimates of the value of life in the range of $3 million to $9 million. These estimates are useful in providing guidance for regulatory policy and assessments of liability. However, use of these values to determine compensation, known as hedonic damages, leads to excessive insurance.


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