Are some lives more valuable? An ethical preferences approach

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Economics
• Transportation Economics
• Public Policy

Background:

• Ethical considerations are crucial in resource allocation for public safety.
• Understanding public preferences for safety investments is vital for efficient policy-making.
• Existing models often lack a robust framework for incorporating age and user-type specific valuations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a theoretical model of ethical preferences for safety investments.
• To empirically investigate age- and user-type specific valuations of life using a choice experiment.
• To inform the optimal allocation of resources for road safety initiatives.

Main Methods:

• Development of a theoretical model integrating social welfare functions and random utility theory.
• Application of the model through a discrete choice experiment.
• Analysis of choices concerning road safety investments targeting diverse age groups and road user types.

Main Results:

• The value of a statistical life decreases significantly with age.
• The present value of a saved life-year remains relatively constant across ages at a moderate rate of time preference.
• Pedestrians are consistently assigned a higher value than car drivers, even when controlling for age.

Conclusions:

• Ethical preferences regarding life valuation are age-dependent and vary by road user type.
• Policy-makers should consider these nuanced valuations for equitable and efficient road safety investments.
• The findings provide a data-driven basis for prioritizing safety interventions across different demographic and user groups.