How do you define *the economic value* of your life, and how do you determine or calculate it?

Question

Dr Leone, I asked you how you define and determine the economic value of your life. Your answer beats around the bush and avoids giving an answer to the Q asked. Please forgive me for saying this but I have noticed you do that alot, looking at the Q and criticizing it. You ought to try asking Q's yourself and that might give you some experience on how hard it is when you ask Q's and have to pick the best answer.TWH 08242006

Answer 1

I define my economic value in benefits imparted to others, production, and assistance to the ecology of the planet.

I have trained/educated/mentored thousands of people in technical and systems architecture, raised one child who is in medical school, and recycled/reused nearly everything in my lifestyle. I count myself as a definite asset to the planet and worth at least 1% of the GNP of this country in any given year, and I plan to teach knitting and garment design as my retirement function.

Is that sufficient, or are you looking for a monetary value?

Answer 2

Kip Viscusi at Harvard did a study in which he compared the relative "danger" between certain jobs and calculated a "risk" premium. In other words, he would look at people with similar education and note the increased in pay for a dangerous job (such as construction) versus a safe job (such as office work). Then, he noted the probability of dying on the job and came up with an answer of around $3 million for an American Life.

On the other hand, whenever a Chinese miner dies from a work-related accident, the Chinese government pays his family $10,000. I have no idea how they calculate that or whether it is even supposed to reflect the value of his life. If it does, it raises the question of whether certain people are more "valuable" than others.

Answer 3

That depends how deep you view the question. For example, a person whose life provides for another has a more complex economic value than just simple self sustenance or any form of wealth. Perhaps in this way our economic value is intrinsically linked to the economy and beyond. Calculating or determining this value would likely be impossible.

Even though the question states "your life", I'm not wholly sure of the scope of the question.

I could (with revolt) attempt to define the economic value of my life from the perspective of a company who sees value in me as a potential/customer.

The economic value of an elected politician's life who uses his sound economic knowledge for the benefit of his people would likewise be overly complex to determine.

Therefore when attempting to determine the personal economic value of a persons life, we must first define what is meant exclusively by "economic value of a person's life".

Answer 4

In most cases (such as wrongful death civil lawsuits), the economic value of life is determined as discounted value of likely lifetime earnings.

Answer 5

I would guess it's a sum of the total income you earn, plus any activities that save you from spending money (such as cleaning on your own as opposed to hiring a maid, cooking rather than eating out, etc..).

Answer 6

priceless.