The value of a statistical life under ambiguity aversion

The paper shows that ambiguity aversion increases the value of a statistical life if the marginal utility of an increase in wealth is larger if one is alive rather than dead. Intuitively, ambiguity aversion has a similar effect as an increase in the perceived baseline mortality risk, and thus operates as the “dead anyway” effect. A numerical example suggests, however, that ambiguity aversion cannot justify the substantial “ambiguity premium” apparently embodied in environmental policy-making. The paper also shows that ambiguity aversion decreases the marginal cost of individual self-protection effort but may well decrease its marginal benefit, so that the total effect of ambiguity aversion on self-protection is unclear.