Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Southern Economic Journal
Publication Date
1-2007
ISSN
0038-4038
Page Number
659
Keywords
statistical life, seatbelt usage, safety benefits
Disciplines
Consumer Protection Law | Law
Abstract
This article uses several within-sample tests to assess whether current seatbelt usage decisions are consistent with the stated preferences of survey respondents. The expressed survey values of statistical life are positively associated with the probability of seatbelt usage and are not statistically different from the values of statistical life implied by seatbelt usage decisions, which are in the $1.9 million to $8.4 million range. Seatbelt usage also varies in the expected manner with individual measures of heterogeneous attitudes toward risk, such as smoking status and education. Our evidence on seatbelt usage supports the view that consumers consistently balance expected safety benefits against the time and discomfort costs of seatbelt use.
Recommended Citation
W. Kip Viscusi and Jahn K. Hakes,
Automobile Seatbelt Usage and the Value of Statistical Life, 73 Southern Economic Journal. 659
(2007)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/58