1. Value of statistical life year in extreme poverty
- Author
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Trautmann, Stefan T., Xu, Yilong, König-Kersting, Christian, Patenaude, Bryan N., Harling, Guy, Sié, Ali, Bärnighausen, Till, Finance, UU LEG Research UUSE Multidisciplinary Economics, Department of Economics, Research Group: Economics, Finance, and UU LEG Research UUSE Multidisciplinary Economics
- Subjects
Randomized experiment ,Cost effectiveness ,Epidemiology ,Cost-Benefit Analysis ,Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics ,R858-859.7 ,Context (language use) ,WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY ,Gross domestic product ,03 medical and health sciences ,0502 economics and business ,Burkina Faso ,Econometrics ,Per capita ,Medicine ,Humans ,A Journal ,050207 economics ,Poverty ,Consumption (economics) ,CONTINGENT VALUATION ,RISK ,Extreme poverty ,business.industry ,Value of statistical life year ,030503 health policy & services ,Data Collection ,Research ,MORTALITY ,05 social sciences ,Environmental and Occupational Health ,1. No poverty ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,COST ,Price lists ,Health Services ,Payment cards ,Payment card ,Health risks ,STATES ,Cost-effectiveness ,Public Health ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,0305 other medical science ,business - Abstract
Background Value of a Statistical Life Year (VSLY) provides an important economic measure of an individual’s trade-off between health risks and other consumption, and is a widely used policy parameter. Measuring VSLY is complex though, especially in low-income and low-literacy communities. Methods Using a large randomized experiment (N = 3027), we study methodological aspects of stated-preference elicitation with payment cards (price lists) in an extreme poverty context. In a 2 × 2 design, we systematically vary whether buying or selling prices are measured, crossed with the range of the payment card. Results We find substantial effects of both the pricing method and the list range on elicited VSLY. Estimates of the gross domestic product per capita multiplier for VSLY range from 3.5 to 33.5 depending on the study design. Importantly, all estimates are economically and statistically significantly larger than the current World Health Organization threshold of 3.0 for cost-effectiveness analyses. Conclusions Our results inform design choice in VSLY measurements, and provide insight into the potential variability of these measurements and possibly robustness checks.
- Published
- 2021