CHDS at 2023 Benefit-Cost Conference

A image of 4 squares with Lisa Robinson (top left), James Hammitt (top right), Tai Dinger (bottom left), and abstract green square (bottom right)

The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2023 annual conference featured work conducted by several CHDS researchers. Faculty member James Hammitt presented his work on “Monetary values of increasing life expectancy: sensitivity to shifts of the survival curve” which considers how individuals’ valuations of mortality risk reductions vary depending on the timing. Work by CHDS Deputy Director and Senior Research Scientist Lisa Robinson was featured in a presentation on “Dynamic Baselines,” which addressed the challenges of predicting what would happen in the absence of a policy. Tai Dinger, PhD student in Health Policy, presented research co-authored with Robinson and Hammitt on “Quality-Adjusted Life Years, Willingness to Pay, and the Value of Averting Nonfatal Illness.” This meta-analysis combines studies of individuals’ willingness to pay per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) to estimate the extent to which the value of a QALY varies depending on the duration, severity, and other attributes of the health outcome. Previous work by Robinson and Hammitt on the value per statistical life for children was the basis of a presentation by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that introduced new recommendations for regulatory analysis. Robinson and Hammitt also participated in a roundtable discussion on the ethics of benefit-cost analysis.

Learn more: Read about the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis
Learn more: Resource Pack: Introduction to Benefit-Cost Analysis
Learn more: Resource Pack: Valuing Health and Longevity in BCA

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