The health impact attributable to climate change has been identified as one of the priority areas for impact assessment. The main goal of this paper is to estimate the monetary value of one key health effect, which is premature mortality. Specifically, our goal is to derive the value of a statistical life from people's willingness to pay for avoiding the risk of dying in one post-transition country in Europe, i.e., the Czech Republic. We carried out a series of conjoint choice experiments in order to value mortality risk reductions. We found the responses to the conjoint choice questions to be reasonable and consistent with the economic paradigm. The VSL is about EUR 2.4 million, and our estimate is comparable with the value of preventing a fatality as used in one of the integrated assessment models. To investigate whether carrying out the survey through the internet may violate the welfare estimate, we administered our questionnaire to two independent samples of respondents using two different modes of survey administration. The results show that the VSLs for the two groups of respondents are €2.25 and €2.55 million, and these figures are statistically indistinguishable. However, the key parameters of indirect utility between the two modes of survey administration are statistically different when specific subgroups of population, such as older respondents, are concerned. Based on this evidence, we conclude that properly designed and administered on-line surveys are a reliable method for administering questionnaires, even when the latter are cognitively challenging. However, attention should be paid to sampling and choice regarding the mode of survey administration if the preference of specific segments of the population is elicited.

Charles University Prague Environment Center Praha Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Watkiss P., Horrocks L., Pye S., Searl A., Hunt A. Impacts of Climate Change in Human Health in Europe. PESETA—Human Health Study. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities; Luxembourg, Luxembourg: 2009.

Campbell-Lendrum D., Woodruff R. In: Climate Change: Quantifying the Health Impact at National and Local Levels. Prüss-Üstün A., Corvalán C., editors. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2007.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Working Group II. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaption and Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press; Cambridge, UK: 2007. [(accessed on 28 March 2010)]. Available online: www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/contents.html.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Costs of Inaction on Key Environmental Challenges. OECD Publishing; Paris, France: 2008.

Trærup S.L.M., Ortiz R.A., Markandya A. The costs of climate change: A study of Cholera in Tanzania. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2011;8:4386–4405. doi: 10.3390/ijerph8124386. PubMed DOI PMC

Desaigues B., Ami D., Bartczak A., Braun-Kohlová M., Chilton S., Czajkowski M., Farreras V., Hunt A., Hutchison M., Jeanrenaud C., Kaderjak P., Máca V., Markiewicz O., Markowska A., Metcalf H., Navrud S., Nielsen J.S., Ortiz R., Pellegrini S., Rabl A., Riera R., Scasny M., Stoeckel M.-E., Szántó R., Urban J. Economic valuation of air pollution mortality: A 9-country contingent valuation survey of value of a life year (VOLY) Ecol. Indic. 2011;11:902–910. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2010.12.006. DOI

Berrens R.P., Bohara A.K., Jenkins-Smith H.C., Silva C.L., Weimer D.L. Information and effort in contingent valuation surveys: Application to global climate change using national internet samples. J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 2004;47:331–363. doi: 10.1016/S0095-0696(03)00094-9. DOI

Alberini A., Cropper M., Krupnick A., Simon N.B. Does the value of a statistical life vary with age and health status? Evidence from the US and Canada. J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 2004;48:769–792. doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2003.10.005. DOI

Alberini A., Cropper M., Krupnick A., Simon N.B. Willingness to pay for mortality risk reductions: Does latency matter? J. Risk Uncertainty. 2006;32:231–245. doi: 10.1007/s11166-006-9521-0. DOI

Adamowicz W., Dupont D., Krupnick A., Zhang J. Valuation of cancer and microbial disease risk reductions in municipal drinking water: An analysis of risk context using multiple valuation methods. J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 2001;61:213–226.

Bosworth R., Cameron T.A., DeShazo J.R. Demand for environmental policies to improve health: Evaluating community-level policy scenarios. J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 2009;57:293–308. doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2008.07.009. DOI

Bulte E., Gerking S., List J.A., de Zeeuw A. The effect of varying the causes of environmental problems on stated WTP values: Evidence from a field study. J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 2005;49:330–342. doi: 10.1016/j.jeem.2004.06.001. DOI

Lindhjem H., Navrud S. Using Internet in stated preference surveys: A review and comparison of survey modes. Int. Rev. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2011;5:309–351. doi: 10.1561/101.00000045. DOI

World Health Organization. Guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environments. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2003. Coastal and Fresh Waters.

McMichael A.J., Campbell-Lendrum D., Kovats S., Edwards S., Wilkinson P., Wilson T., Nicholls R., Hales S., Tanser F., le Sueur D., Schlesinger M., Andronova N. Global Climate Change. In: Ezzati M., Lopez A., Roders A., Murray C.J.L., editors. Comparative Quantification of Health Risks, Global and Regional Burden of Disease Attributable to Selected Major Risk Factors. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2004. pp. 1543–1650.

Kovats R.S., Edwards S.J., Hajat S., Armstrong B.G., Ebi K.L., Menne B. The effect of temperature on food poisoning: A time-series analysis of salmonellosis in ten European countries. Epidemiol. Infect. 2004;132:443–453. doi: 10.1017/S0950268804001992. PubMed DOI PMC

Keim M.E. Building human resilience: The role of public health preparedness and response as an adaptation to climate change. Amer. J. Prev. Med. 2008;35:508–516. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2008.08.022. PubMed DOI

Ebi K.L. Resilience to the health risks of extreme weather events in a changing climate in the United States. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2011;8:4582–4595. doi: 10.3390/ijerph8124582. PubMed DOI PMC

European Environment Agency. The European Environment: State and Outlook 2010: Air Pollution. Publications Office of the European Union; Luxembourg, Luxembourg: 2010.

Alberini A., Gans W., Alhassan M. Individual and public-program adaptation: Coping with heat waves in five cities in Canada. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2011;8:4679–4701. doi: 10.3390/ijerph8124679. PubMed DOI PMC

European Environment Agency. Urban Adaptation to Climate Change in Europe: Challenges And Opportunities for Cities together with Supportive National and European Policies. Office for Official Publications of the European Union; Luxembourg, Luxembourg: 2012.

D’Ippoliti D., Michelozzi P., Marino C., de’Donato F., Menne B., Katsouyanni K., Kirchmayer U., Analitis A., Medina-Ramón M., Paldy A., Atkinson R., Kovats S., Bisanti L., Schneider A., Lefranc A., Iñiguez C., Perucci C.A. The impact of heat waves on mortality in 9 European cities: Results from the EuroHEAT project. Environ. Health. 2010;9:37. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-9-37. PubMed DOI PMC

Barriopedro D., Fischer E.M., Luterbacher J., Trigo R.M., Garcia-Herrera R. The Hot summer of 2010: Redrawing the temperature record map of Europe. Science. 2011;332:220–224. doi: 10.1126/science.1201224. PubMed DOI

Bell M.L., Dominici F., Samet J.M. A meta-analysis of time-series studies of ozone and mortality with comparison to the national morbidity, mortality, and air pollution study. Epidemiology. 2005;16:436–445. doi: 10.1097/01.ede.0000165817.40152.85. PubMed DOI PMC

Medina-Ramón M., Zanobetti A., Cavanagh D.P., Schwartz J. Extreme temperatures and mortality: Assessing effect modification by personal characteristics and specific cause of death in a multi-city case-only analysis. Environ. Health Perspect. 2006;114:1331–1336. doi: 10.1289/ehp.9074. PubMed DOI PMC

Holland M., Amann M., Heyes C., Rafaj P., Schöpp W., Hunt A., Watkiss P. The Reduction in Air Quality Impacts and Associated Economic Benefits of Mitigation Policy: Summary of Results from the EC RTD ClimateCost Project. Technical Policy Briefing Note 6: Ancillary Air Quality Benefits. Stockholm Environment Institute; Stockholm, Sweden: 2011.

Kiulia O., Markandya A., Ščasný M., Menkyna Tsuchimoto F. The economic and environmental effects of taxing air pollutants and CO2: Lessons from a study of the Czech Republic. Rev. Environ. Econ. Policy. under review.

World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2002. World Health Organization; Geneva, Switzerland: 2002.

Patz J.A., Campbell-Lendrum D., Holloway T., Foley J.A. Impact of regional climate change on human health. Nature. 2005;438:310–317. PubMed

Tol R.S.J. The economic effects of climate change. J. Econ. Perspect. 2009;23:29–51. doi: 10.1257/jep.23.2.29. DOI

Nordhaus W.D. Estimates of the social cost of carbon: Background and results from the rice—2011 model. SSRN Electron. J. 2011

Anthoff D., Toll S.J.R. Climate Framework for Uncertainty, Negotiation and Distribution: Technical Description, Version 3.5. 2010. [(accessed on 3 September 2012)]. Available online: www.fund-model.org/versions.

Nordhaus W.D., Boyer J. Warming the World: Economic Models of Global Warming. MIT Press; Cambridge, MA, USA: 2000. Chapter 4.

Murray C.J.L., Lopez A.D. The Global Burden of Disease. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA, USA: 1996.

Cline W.R. The Economics of Global Warming. Institute for International Economics; Washington, DC, USA: 1992.

Navrud S. Valuing health impacts from air pollution in Europe. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2001;20:305–329. doi: 10.1023/A:1013099120078. DOI

Tolley G.S., Kenkel D.S., Fabian R.G. Valuing Health for Policy: An Economic Approach. University of Chicago Press; Chicago, IL, USA: 1994.

Viscusi W.K. The value of risks to life and health. J. Econ. Lit. 1993;31:1912–1946.

Robinson L.A. Policy monitor: How US government agencies value mortality risk reductions. Rev. Environ. Econ. Policy. 2007;1:283–299. doi: 10.1093/reep/rem018. DOI

Viscusi W.K., Aldy J.E. The value of a statistical life: A critical review of market estimates throughout the world. J. Risk Uncertainty. 2003;27:5–76. doi: 10.1023/A:1025598106257. DOI

Melichar J., Ščasný M., Urban J. Hodnocení smrtelných rizik na trhu práce: Studie hédonické mzdy pro Českou Republiku. (The valuation of risks in the labour market: Hedonic wage study in Czech Republic) Politická ekonomie. 2010;5:657–674.

Alberini A., Bateman I., Loomes G. Valuation of Environment—Related Health Risks for Children. OECD Publishing; Paris, France: 2010.

Alberini A., Ščasný M. Context and the VSL: Evidence from a stated preference study in Italy and the Czech Republic. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2011;49:511–538. doi: 10.1007/s10640-010-9444-8. DOI

Viscusi W.K. Fatal Tradeoffs: Public and Private Responsibilities for Risk. Oxford University Press; New York, NY, USA: 1992.

Kochi I., Hubbell B., Kramer R. An empirical Bayes approach to combining and comparing estimates of the value of a statistical life for environmental policy analysis. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2006;34:385–406. doi: 10.1007/s10640-006-9000-8. DOI

Mrozek J.R., Taylor L.O. What determines the value of life? A meta-analysis. J. Policy Anal. Manage. 2002;21:253–270. doi: 10.1002/pam.10026. DOI

de Blaeij A., Florax R.J.G.M., Rietveld P., Verhoef E. The value of statistical life in road safety: A meta-analysis. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2003;35:973–986. doi: 10.1016/S0001-4575(02)00105-7. PubMed DOI

Dekker T., Brouwer R., Hofkes M., Moeltner K. The effect of risk context on the value of a statistical life: A bayesian meta-model. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2011;49:597–624. doi: 10.1007/s10640-011-9456-z. DOI

Lindhjem H.V., Navrud S., Braathen N.A. Meta-Analysis of Stated Preference VSL Studies: Further Model Sensitivity and Benefit Transfer Issues. PIMAVE Technical Report. OECD; Paris, France: 2010.

Braathen N.A., Lindhjem H., Navrud S. Valuing Lives Saved from Environmental, Transport and Health Policies: A Meta-Analysis of Stated Preference Studies. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Paris, France: 2010.

Bateman I.J., Carson R.T., Day B., Hanemann M., Hanley N., Hett T., Jones-Lee M., Loomes G., Mourato S., Özdemiroglu E., Pearce D.W., Sugden R., Swanson J. Economic Valuation with Stated Preference Techniques: A Manual. Edward Elgar Publishing; Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: 2002.

Carson R.T., Louviere J.J. A common nomenclature for stated preference elicitation approaches. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2011;49:539–559. doi: 10.1007/s10640-010-9450-x. DOI

Alriksson S., Oberg T. Conjoint analysis for environmental evaluation—A review of methods and applications. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Int. 2008;15:244–257. doi: 10.1065/espr2008.02.479. PubMed DOI

Hanley N., Mourato S., Wright R.E. Choice modelling approaches: A superior alternative for environmental valuation? J. Econ. Surv. 2001;15:435–62.

Alberini A., Longo A., Veronesi M. Basic Statistical Models for Conjoint Choice Experiments. In: Kanninen B., editor. Valuing Environmental Amenities using Choice Experiments: A Common Sense Guide to Theory and Practice. Springer; Darmstadt, Germany: 2007.

Lusk J.L., Norwood F.B. Effect of experimental design on choice-based conjoint valuation estimates. Amer. J. Agr. Econ. 2005;87:771–785. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8276.2005.00761.x. DOI

Alberini A., Tonin S., Turvani M., Chiabai A. Paying for permanence: Public preferences for contaminated site cleanup. J. Risk Uncertainty. 2007;34:155–178. doi: 10.1007/s11166-007-9007-8. DOI

Swait J. Advanced Choice Models. In: Kanninen B., editor. Valuing Environmental Amenities using Choice Experiments: A Common Sense Guide to Theory and Practice. Springer; Darmstadt, Germany: 2007.

Tsuge T., Kishimoto A., Takeuchi K. A choice experiment approach to the valuation of mortality. J. Risk Uncertainty. 2005;31:73–95. doi: 10.1007/s11166-005-2931-6. DOI

Itaoka K., Saito A., Krupnick A., Adamowicz W., Taniguchi T. The effect of risk characteristics on the willingness to pay for mortality risk reductions from electric power generation. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2006;33:371–398. doi: 10.1007/s10640-005-3605-1. DOI

Alberini A., Ščasný M., Guignet D., Tonin S. Cancer values of prevented fatalities (VPFs), one size does not fit all: The benefits of contaminated site cleanups in Italy. J. AirWaste Manage. Assoc. 2012;62:783–798. doi: 10.1080/10962247.2012.676594. PubMed DOI

Tonin S., Alberini A., Turvani M. The Value of Reducing cancer Risks at Contaminated Sites: Are More Heavily Exposed People Willing to Pay More? Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei; Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei: 2009. [(accessed on 13 September 2012)]. Available online: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1445377.

Campbell D., Hutchinson W.G., Scarpa R. Incorporating discontinuous preferences into the analysis of discrete choice experiments. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2008;41:401–417. doi: 10.1007/s10640-008-9198-8. DOI

Moore M.J., Viscusi W.K. The quantity-adjusted value of life. Econ. Inq. 1988;26:369–388.

Desaigues B., Ami D., Hutchison M., Rabl A., Chilton S., Metcalf H., Hunt A., Ortiz R., Navrud S., Kaderjak P., Szántó R., Seested Nielsen J., Jeanrenaud C., Pellegrini S., Braun Kohlová M., Ščasný M., Vojtěch M., Urban J., Stoeckel M., Bartczak A., Markiewicz O., Riera P., Farreras V. 2007. Deliverable D6.7—Final Report on the Monetary Valuation of Mortality and Morbidity Risks from Air Pollution. Sixth Framework Programme of DG Research European Commission (Project No 502687 “New Energy Externalities Developments for Sustainability” [NEEDS])

Alberini A., Ščasný M., Braun Kohlová M., Melichar J. The Value of a Statistical Life in the Czech Republic: Evidence from a Contingent Valuation Study. In: Menne B., Ebi K.L., editors. Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Europe. Springer; Darmstadt, Germany: 2006.

Giergiczny M. Value of a statistical life—The case of Poland. Environ. Resour. Econ. 2008;41:209–221. doi: 10.1007/s10640-007-9188-2. DOI

asný M., Urban J. Application of the Hedonic Wage Model: Value of Statistical Life Derived from Employee’s Choice in the Czech Labor Marke. In: Ščasný M., Braun Kohlová M., editors. Modelling of Consumer Behaviour and Wealth Distribution. Matfyzpress; Praha, Czech Republic: 2008. pp. 125–145.