1887

OECD Environment Working Papers

This series is designed to make available to a wider readership selected studies on environmental issues prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal authors are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language English or French with a summary in the other if available.

English

Valuing a reduction in the risk of infertility

A large scale multi-country stated preference approach

While fertility decline is a global phenomenon that has many causes, part of it can be explained by exposure to substances linked to reproductive toxicity that are produced and lead to human exposure through the environment and products. Authorities face challenges in regulating reprotoxic substances through actions such as bans and prohibitions, because of the difficulty in explicitly considering the economic benefits and costs of such regulations. Moreover, economic studies that show the value of reducing infertility caused by chemical exposure are not yet available.

This paper is part of the series of large scale willingness to pay (WTP) studies resulting from the Surveys to elicit Willingness to pay to Avoid Chemicals related negative Health Effects (SWACHE) project that intends to improve the basis for doing cost benefit analyses of chemicals management options and environmental policies in general. The present paper details a stated preference survey estimating WTP to reduce the risk of infertility, filling an important gap in the valuation literature and addressing a need for applied benefits analysis for chemicals regulation. The SWACHE infertility survey was fielded in 10 countries: Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

English

Keywords: stated preferences, value of a statistical case, economic valuation, health valuation, chemicals regulation, non-market valuation, infertility, willingness-to-pay, monetised benefits, health risk, surveys, morbidity valuation
JEL: Q58: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Environmental Economics: Government Policy; D61: Microeconomics / Welfare Economics / Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Q51: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Valuation of Environmental Effects; J17: Labor and Demographic Economics / Demographic Economics / Value of Life; Forgone Income; I18: Health, Education, and Welfare / Health / Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health; K32: Law and Economics / Other Substantive Areas of Law / Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law; Q53: Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics / Environmental Economics / Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
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