دورية أكاديمية
Environmental regulation, cost-benefit analysis, and the discounting of human lives.
| العنوان: | Environmental regulation, cost-benefit analysis, and the discounting of human lives. |
|---|---|
| المؤلفون: | Revesz RL; New York University School of Law, USA. |
| المصدر: | Columbia law review [Columbia Law Rev] 1999 May; Vol. 99 (4), pp. 941-1017. |
| نوع المنشور: | Journal Article |
| اللغة: | English |
| بيانات الدورية: | Publisher: Columbia University Law School Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7703640 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Print ISSN: 0010-1958 (Print) Linking ISSN: 00101958 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Columbia Law Rev |
| أسماء مطبوعة: | Publication: New York Ny : Columbia University Law School Original Publication: Worcester, Mass., Columbia Law Students. |
| مواضيع طبية MeSH: | Intergenerational Relations* , Value of Life*, Environmental Pollution/*legislation & jurisprudence, Age Factors ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Environmental Pollution/economics ; Forecasting ; Government Agencies ; Humans ; Models, Econometric ; Risk ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits ; Time Factors ; United States |
| مستخلص: | The loss of human life resulting from environmental contaminants generally does not occur contemporaneously with the exposure to those contaminants. Some environmental problems produce harms with a latency period whereas others affect future generations. One of the most vexing questions raised by the cost-benefit analysis of environmental regulation is whether discounting, to reflect the passage of time between the exposure and the harm, is appropriate in these two scenarios. The valuations of human life used in regulatory analyses are from threats of instantaneous death in workplace settings. Discounting, to reflect that in the case of latent harms the years lost occur later in a person's lifetime, is appropriate in these circumstances. Upward adjustments of the value of life need to be undertaken, however, to account for the dread and involuntary nature of environmental carcinogens as well as for higher income levels of the victims. By not performing these adjustments, the regulatory process may be undervaluing lives by as much as a factor of six. In contrast, in the case of harms to future generations, discounting is ethically unjustified. It is simply a means of privileging the interests of the current generation. Discounting raises analytically distinct issues in the cases of latent harms and harms to future generations. In the case of latent harms, one needs to make intra-personal, intertemporal comparisons of utility, whereas in the case of harms to future generations one needs to define a metric against which to compare the utilities of individuals living in different generations. Thus, the appropriateness of discounting should be resolved differently in the two contexts. |
| تواريخ الأحداث: | Date Created: 19991111 Date Completed: 19991109 Latest Revision: 20041117 |
| رمز التحديث: | 20221213 |
| PMID: | 10558577 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | MEDLINE |
| تدمد: | 0010-1958 |
|---|