The Value of a Statistical Life in a Dictatorship : Evidence from Stalin

We examine the value of a statistical life (VSL) in interwar Soviet Union. Our approach requires addressing the preferences of Stalin. We model these on the basis of the policy of statistical repression, which was an integral part of the Great Terror. We use regional variation in the victims generated by this policy to structurally estimate the value that Stalin would have been willing to accept for a reduction in citizens' fatality risk. Our estimate of this value is $43,000, roughly 6% of the VSL estimate in the US in 1940 and 29% of the VSL estimate in modern India

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Year of publication:	2018
Authors:	Castañeda Dower, Paul
Other Persons:	Markevich, Andrei (contributor) ; Weber, Shlomo (contributor)
Publisher:	[2018]: [S.l.] : SSRN
Subject:	Wert des Menschenlebens \| Value of life \| Diktatur \| Dictatorship \| Menschen \| Humans \| Bewertung \| Evaluation \| Sterblichkeit \| Mortality \| Sowjetunion \| USSR

Extent:	1 Online-Ressource (57 p)
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Language:	English
Notes:	Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments March 13, 2018 erstellt
Other identifiers:	10.2139/ssrn.3144676 [DOI]
Classification:	J17 - Value of Life; Foregone Income ; I30 - Welfare and Poverty. General ; N44 - Europe: 1913- ; P51 - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems
Source:	ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012924310