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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Saving Lives With Stem Cell Transplants, Damien Sheehan-Connor, Ted C. Bergstrom, Rodney Garratt
Saving Lives With Stem Cell Transplants, Damien Sheehan-Connor, Ted C. Bergstrom, Rodney Garratt
Ted C Bergstrom
Blood stem cell transplants can be life-saving for some patients, but the chances of finding a matching donor are small unless a large number of potential donors are evaluated. Many nations maintain large registries of potential donors who have offered to donate stem cells if they are the best available match for a patient needing a transplant. An alternative source of stem cells, umbilical cord blood, is stored in banks. Everyone faces a small probability of needing a transplant which will increase their likelihood of survival. The registries and cord blood banks are thus an interesting example of a pure …
When Is A Man's Life Worth More Than His Human Capital?, Ted Bergstrom
When Is A Man's Life Worth More Than His Human Capital?, Ted Bergstrom
Ted C Bergstrom
This paper develops a "subjectivist" theory of the value that individuals place on risks to their lives. It explains the paradox that although individuals may view their lives as priceless, they still will take small risks for a finite amount of money. Typical public projects that alter risks to life result in small changes in survival probability for a large number of people. Standard tools of benefit cost can therefore be applied, where statistical lives saved are valued at a price equal to the marginal rate of substitution between survival probability and wealth. This "value" is compared to human capital …