The role of ex ante and ex post decisions in the valuation of life

This paper examines the use of ex ante and ex post criteria in the evaluation of projects involving the risk of death. One issue concerns the appropriate welfare function, and it is argued that this should reflect both ex post and ex ante considerations, but not in the form of restrictions on the welfare function. The second issue concerns the form of compensation. The argument in favour of ex post compensation as a means of reducing the cost of risk-bearing needs to be modified when risks involve more than a single dimension as they do in projects involving the risk of death.