Economic Valuation of Health for Environmental Policy: Comparing Alternative Approaches. Introduction and Overview

Protecting human health is a primary goal of environmental policy and economic evaluation of health can help policy-makers judge the relative worth of alternative actions. Economists use two distinct approaches in normatively evaluating health. Whereas environmental economists use benefit-cost analysis supported by monetary valuation in terms of willingness-to-pay, health economists evaluate interventions based on cost-effectiveness or cost-utility analysis (CEA), using quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) or similar indexes. This paper provides background on the controversy about the relative merits of these approaches and introduces the remaining papers in the special issue. These papers (with one exception) were presented at a conference sponsored by the Department of Economics at the University of Central Florida with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Although CEA might not lead to substantially different implications for environmental policy than benefit-cost analysis, and QALY may provide a benefit transfer tool to fill gaps in the morbidity valuation literature, the papers in this issue raise serious concerns about the suitability of QALY-based CEA for environmental regulatory analysis. QALY does not in general appropriately represent individual preferences for health and CEA is neither independent of income distribution nor adequate to assess efficiency.     

Willingness to Pay to Reduce Mortality Risks: Evidence from a Three-Country Contingent Valuation Study

Valuing a change in the risk of death is a key input into the calculation of the benefits of environmental policies that save lives. Typically such risks are monetized using the Value of a Statistical Life (VSL). Since the majority of the lives saved by environmental policies are those of older persons, there has been much recent debate about whether the VSL should be lower for the elderly to reflect their fewer remaining life years. We conducted a contingent valuation survey in the UK, Italy and France designed to answer this question. The survey was administered in these three countries following a standardized protocol. Our results suggest that the VSL is €1.022 million or €2.264 million, depending on whether we use median or mean WTP. The VSL is not significantly lower for older persons, but is higher for persons who have been admitted to a hospital or emergency room for cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Income is positively and significantly associated with WTP. The income elasticities of the WTP increase gradually with income levels and are between 0.15 and 0.5 for current income levels in EU countries. We use the responses to the WTP questions to estimate the value of an extension in remaining life expectancy. The value of a loss of one year’s life expectancy is €54,000 or €163,000.     

浅析长拳类套路演练中的节奏

掌握节奏是套路演练中的关键环节,本文从长拳类套路演练中节奏的涵义、节奏在套路演练中所体现的价值以及演练中如何更好地掌握节奏这三个方面出发,在查找相关文献资料、总结自身教学经验的基础上,运用总结、归纳等方法进行了分析论述.     

企业需求、企业能力与企业社会责任的匹配探讨——一种新的企业履行社会责任的理论分析框架

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门式刚架端板连接节点在加劲肋作用下的性能研究

目前国内端板连接计算方面还没有设计规范,理论方面仍在探讨研究中。我国现行规程关于端板连接承载力的设计计算方法中还没有考虑端板加劲肋对节点承载力的影响。本文使用通用有限元软件ANSYS 10.0综合考虑了三重非线性的影响,同时考虑了螺栓预拉力的影响,对考虑端板厚度、端板加劲肋的设置、螺栓直径、摩擦系数等参数不同的3个系列28个门式刚架梁柱节点试件进行了有限元数值模拟,对连接节点的性能进行了分析研究,提出了设计建议以供参考。     

辽宁省城市物流绩效评价

探寻了城市物流绩效评价的三方面内容：指标体系、权重及评价方法，选取辽宁省14个城市作为样本，运用生成分分析对其城市物流绩效进行评价，对辽宁省城市物流发展有一定的参考价值。     

锈蚀钢筋混凝土薄壁箱梁非线形分析

薄壁箱梁结构由于其结构轻,刚度大,在结构工程中得到了广泛的应用.钢筋锈蚀是影响混凝土结构耐久性的重要因素,为了正确评估钢筋锈蚀后构件的裂缝发展情况,本文利用大型有限元软件ANSYS通过对锈蚀钢筋混凝土薄壁箱梁的非线性分析,得到了锈蚀构件的裂缝的变化规律.     

模糊层次综合评判法在工程承包风险评判中的应用

从建筑工程承包风险综合评定的影响因素入手，将模糊数学与层次分析方法相结合，建立模糊层次模型并应用于工程项目承包风险分析。为承包风险辨识、估计和评价提供了一种主客观相结合的分析方法。     

论公司财务的价值创造功能

生产要素经过市场交易过程被企业购入之后,变为要素资本;各种要素资本的价值及其增值形成企业的财务价值。决策人的要素资本偏好结构是根据个人偏好对方案集合中的方案进行对比并区分优劣或大小,最终排列各方案的优劣次序。为了描述决策人对确定性后果的偏好程度,应建立序数价值函数、可测价值函数和财务效率等概念,从而建立要素资本价值函数,找出公司财务创造价值的机理。     

全面小康社会指标评价体系

全面小康是涉及个人、企业和社会三维一体的小康。社会的小康由企业和个人的小康组成,而企业又是个人小康的主要载体。因此,研究个人、企业和社会各自的全面小康标准对于实现本世纪头20年全面建设小康社会的目标十分必要。衡量小康社会发展程度需要配套标准,构筑这些标准,建立相对健全的评价指标体系,是实施全面小康战略的迫切需要。