The value of human lifetime — and its application to environmental and energy policy

Abstract

Policy alternatives in many areas, and particularly in environmental and energy policy, can have an effect on the length of human life. For example, it has been demonstrated that air pollution increases human mortality and hence shortens human life. <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1, 2</sup> One approach to making policy decisions is a cost-benefit analysis, in which the value of human lifetime increments should be an important consideration.