No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 January 2025
In health technology assessment (HTA), “value for money” is frequently conceptualized as incremental cost-effectiveness (CE), with effectiveness measured as (quality-adjusted) life years gained (LYG). Commonly used CE thresholds have been subject to controversial debate. We reviewed and analyzed the worldwide economic literature on the value of a statistical life (VSL), which reported empirical estimates during the last 25 years.
We conducted an extended systematic literature search in the EconBiz and EconLit databases, spanning the period from January 1995 to December 2020. We transformed VSL data into the implied values of a statistical life year (VSLY) and analyzed the results by regional origin, elicitation method, and annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Then, we performed a regression analysis using the ordinary least squares (OLS) model after log-transforming the VSLY estimates.
We identified 156 empirical economic studies with 169 unique VSL estimates. Overall, the median VSLY was EUR168,367 (mean, EUR256,701) or 6.3 times annual GDP/capita. The median VSLY (expressed as multiples of GDP/capita) differed by regional origin (North America: EUR288,994; 7.2; Europe: EUR168,367, 5.2; Asia: EUR45,260, 4.5) and by elicitation method (revealed preference/wage risk studies: EUR274,625, 9.1; stated preference/contingent valuation studies: EUR113,246, 4.4; stated preference/discrete choice experiments: EUR178,130, 5.2). Regression analyses confirmed that studies with data originating from North America resulted in significantly higher VSLY estimates. The difference remained statistically significant after adjusting for GDP/capita.
The empirical economic literature, while showing heterogeneity by elicitation method, suggests that the adoption of a preference-based or “demand-side” perspective leads to willingness-to-pay estimates for a LYG that exceed commonly used CE thresholds in the context of HTA.
To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Dropbox account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Google Drive account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.