@article{ref1,
title="The value of a statistical life: A meta-analysis with a mixed effects regression model",
journal="Journal of health economics",
year="2009",
author="Bellavance, François and Dionne, Georges and Lebeau, Martin",
volume="28",
number="2",
pages="444-464",
abstract="The value of a statistical life (VSL) is a very controversial topic, but one which is essential to the optimization of governmental decisions. We see a great variability in the values obtained from different studies. The source of this variability needs to be understood, in order to offer public decision-makers better guidance in choosing a value and to set clearer guidelines for future research on the topic. This article presents a meta-analysis based on 39 observations obtained from 37 studies (from nine different countries) which all use a hedonic wage method to calculate the VSL. Our meta-analysis is innovative in that it is the first to use the mixed effects regression model [Raudenbush, S.W., 1994. Random effects models. In: Cooper, H., Hedges, L.V. (Eds.), The Handbook of Research Synthesis. Russel Sage Foundation, New York] to analyze studies on the value of a statistical life. We conclude that the variability found in the values studied stems in large part from differences in methodologies.<p />",
language="",
issn="0167-6296",
doi="10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.10.013",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.10.013"
}