Skip to main content

Abstract

The economic burden of mortality due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) extends beyond the lives lost. Data from the Ohio Department of Public Health and Social Security Administration was used to estimate the years of potential life lost, 72,274 and economic value of those lost lives, US$17.39 billion. These estimates may be used to assess the risk-trade off of COVID-19 mitigation strategies in Ohio.

Formats available

You can view the full content in the following formats:

References

Papers of special note have been highlighted as: • of interest
1.
Kniesner TJ, Viscusi WK. The value of a statistical life. Forthcoming Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance Vanderbilt Law Research Paper No. 19-15. SSRN (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3379967
• Provides a foundational overview of the value of statistical lifefor those interested in further reading on this topic.
2.
O'Brien J. Age, autos and the value of a statistical life. J. Risk Uncertainty 57(1), 51–79 (2018).
3.
Elledege SJ. 2.5 million person-years of life have been lost due to COVID-19 in the United States. medRxiv.org(2020). https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.18.20214783
4.
Navarro A. Governors take the lead in the fight against coronavirus. CBS news website. (2020). https://www.cbsnews.com/news/governors-take-the-lead-in-the-fight-against-coronavirus/
5.
Ohio Department of Public Health. COVID-19 Dashboard website (2010). https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards/overview
6.
Social Security Administration. Actuarial Life Table website (2020). www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html#fn2
7.
Bell FC, Miller ML. Life Tables for the United States Social Security Area 1900–2100: Actuarial Study No. 120 website (2020). www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/as120/LifeTables_Body.html
8.
Adler MD. What should we spend to save lives in a pandemic? A critique of the value of statistical life (25 June 2020). Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2020–40. SSRN (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3636550
• Value of statistical life method used in this study is not without controversy. This study provides a critique of the method.
9.
Robinson LA, Sullivan R, Shogren JF. Do the benefits of COVID-19 policies exceed the costs? Exploring uncertainties in the age-VSL relationship. Risk Anal. (2020) (Epub ahead of print).
10.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): vaccines (2020). www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html