Browsing by Author "Viscusi, W. Kip"

Now showing items 1-20 of 134

    • Adaptive Responses to Chemical Labeling: Are Workers Bayesian Decision Makers? 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; O'Connor, Charles J. (American Economic Review, 1984)
      A fundamental issue in the economics of uncertainty is how individuals process information and make choices under uncertainty. In a recent analysis of the findings on risk perception, Kenneth Arrow (1982) concluded that ...
    • Adjusting the Value of a Statistical Life for Age and Cohort Effects 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Aldy, Joseph E. (The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2008)
      To resolve the theoretical ambiguity in the effect of age on the value of statistical life (VSL), this article uses a novel, age-dependent fatal risk measure to estimate age-specific hedonic wage regressions. VSL exhibits ...
    • Age Variations in Risk Perceptions and Smoking Decisions 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (The Review of Economics and Statistics, 1991)
      Abstract-The results of a national survey of smoking risks and smoking behavior are analyzed. Smoking risk perceptions follow the expected patterns given age differences in risk information acquired and differences in ...
    • Allocating Responsibility for the Failure of Global Warming Policies 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Hersch, Joni, 1956- (University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 2007)
      A recent series of climate change lawsuits has sought to mimic the "regulation through litigation" approach of the claims brought by the states against cigarette manufacturers. What is distinctive about the cigarette cases ...
    • Alternative Approaches to Valuing the Health Impacts of Accidents: Liability Law and Prospective Evaluations 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (Law & Contemporary Problems, 1983)
      The task of valuing accidental injuries and deaths is intrinsically difficult for two reasons. First, unlike standard consumer commodities, individual health is not traded explicitly on the market. It may be traded implicitly ...
    • Are Individuals Bayesian Decision Makers? 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Viscusi, W. Kip (American Economic Review, 1985)
      There has been increasing interest in whether normative models of individual choice under uncertainty accord with actual behavior. These concerns have been much greater than in other economic contexts because of the ...
    • Are Risk Regulators Rational? Evidence from Hazardous Waste Cleanup Decisions 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Hamilton, James, 1961- (The American Economic Review, 1999)
      Using original data on the cleanup of 130 hazardous waste sites, we examine the degree Superfund decisions are driven by efficiency concerns, biases in risk perceptions, and political factors. Target risk levels chosen by ...
    • Assessing the Insurance Role of Tort Liability After Calabresi 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Hersch, Joni, 1956- (Law & Contemporary Problems, 2014)
      Calabresi’s theory of tort liability (1961) as a risk distribution mechanism established insurance as an objective of tort liability. Calabresi’s risk-spreading concept of tort has provided the impetus for much of the ...
    • Automobile Seatbelt Usage and the Value of Statistical Life 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Hakes, Jahn K. (Southern Economic Journal, 2007)
      This article uses several within-sample tests to assess whether current seatbelt usage decisions are consistent with the stated preferences of survey respondents. The expressed survey values of statistical life are positively ...
    • Behavioral Public Choice: The Behavioral Paradox of Government Policy 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Gayer, Ted, 1970- (Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2015)
      Although government agencies increasingly use behavioral irrationalities as a justification for government intervention, the paradox is that these same government policies are also subject to similar behavioral inadequacies ...
    • The Benefits and Costs of Regulatory Reforms for Superfund 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Hamilton, James, 1961- (Stanford Environmental Law Journal, 1997)
      The current policy approach used in the Superfund program is a peculiar halfway house. EPA devotes substantial effort to identifying chemicals at a site and ascertaining their potential risks. It also assesses the costs ...
    • The Benefits of Mortality Risk Reduction: Happiness Surveys vs. The Value of a Statistical Life 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (Duke Law Journal, 2013)
      A principal component of many benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) of health, safety, and environmental regulations is the valuation of the fatality risk effects of the underlying policy. Government agencies currently value these ...
    • The Blockbuster Punitive Damages Awards 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (Emory Law Journalwww.law.emory.edu/elj, 2004)
      This paper provides an analysis of sixty-four punitive damages awards of at least $100 million. Based on an inventory of these cases, there is evidence that these blockbuster awards are highly concentrated geographically, ...
    • Carcinogen Regulation: Risk Characteristics and the Synthetic Risk Bias 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (AEA Papers and Proceedings, 1995)
      In this paper, I will explore the decision to regulate natural and synthetic chemicals. To what extent are regulatory decisions driven by the severity of the risk as opposed to the character of the risk exposure? The ...
    • The Catastrophic Effects of Natural Disasters on Insurance Markets 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Born, Patricia, 1964- (Journal of Risk and Uncertaintyhttp://www.springer.com/economics/economic+theory/journal/11166, 2006)
      Natural catastrophes often have catastrophic risks on insurance companies as well as on the insured. Using a very large dataset on homeowners' insurance coverage by state, by firm, and by year for the 1984 to 2004 period, ...
    • The Challenge of Punitive Damages Mathematics 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (The Journal of Legal Studies, 2001)
      Proposals to provide juries with specific numerical instructions for setting punitive damages should bring greater rationality to punitive damages awards. This approach is tested using evidence from 353 jury-eligible ...
    • The Changing Landscape of Blockbuster Punitive Damages Awards 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Del Rossi, Alison F. (American Law and Economics Review, 2009)
      This article investigates the determinants of the blockbuster punitive damages awards of at least $100 million. As of the end of 2008, there had been 100 such awards with an average value of $3.0 billion. The U.S. Supreme ...
    • Cigarette Smokers as Job Risk Takers 
      Hersch, Joni, 1956-; Viscusi, W. Kip (The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2001)
      Using a large data set, the authors find that smokers select riskier jobs, but receive lower total wage compensation for risk than do nonsmokers. This finding is inconsistent with conventional models of compensating ...
    • Cigarette Warnings: The Perils of the Cipollone Decision 
      Viscusi, W. Kip (Supreme Court Economic Review, 1993)
      In Cipollone v Liggett Group, Inc., a splintered Court concluded that cigarette smokers who are injured through their consumption of tobacco may bring some state law tort claims against the manufacturers of the cigarettes. ...
    • Cleaning Up Superfund 
      Viscusi, W. Kip; Hamilton, James, 1961- (The Public Interest, 1996)
      The cleanup of hazardous wastes is the number one environmental concern of the American people. The government's response: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched its Superfund program, which was established by ...