Quantitative Assessment of the Value of Human Life in Russia and in the World

Abstract

The authors of the article present modern approaches to the assessment of the value of human life abroad and in contemporary Russia, which can be used to determine the fair amount of compensation payments to victims in emergency situations of various natures. To this end, a wide range of initial data was used: the results of Russian and international sociological surveys, statistics of Rosstat, the World Bank, and other international databases. The analysis of the legislation carried out by the authors showed that the value of human life in Russia fixed in the normative acts is from 0.5 to 9.2 million roubles. The authors obtained estimates of material losses for the national economy due to the premature death of the average person as a result of emergency situations and for the individual household — they amount to 31.7 and 7.9–10.5 million roubles respectively (in 2017 prices). The authors also provided estimates of the value of the life of the average person in Russia, obtained on the basis of sociological surveys conducted in 2017. The average value of human life in Russia, obtained by methods of sociology, is 5.2 million roubles; the median value is 1.4 million roubles. The article presents the author’s method of assessing the value of human life, taking into account the material and moral damage caused to the family of the deceased, built on the balance of average life expectancy, per capita final consumption, and satisfaction of the population of different countries with their lives. As an equivalent of people’s satisfaction with their lives, the authors also used data on the level of domestic violence in society and the balance of migration flows, both at the national and regional levels. Within the framework of this method, the value of the life of the average person is the average increase in the level of individual consumption, necessary to restore a normal level of satisfaction with their lives in conditions of increased mortality and reduction of the average life expectancy. The article presents also the author’s calculations performed by this method for different groups of countries. It is shown that the total value of human life in the world as a whole is 4.6–4.7 million uS dollars in 2011 prices. In the group of countries with per capita consumption of more than 10 thousand uS dollars the value of human life reaches 18.5 million dollars per year. In the group of countries with incomes below this mark, the value of human life reaches 0.5–1.9 million dollars. According to the authors, in Russia, the “value” of human life should be 51–61 million roubles in the prices of 2017 (about 1 million uS dollars depending on the official exchange rate). The results of the study of the quantitative assessment of the value of human life in Russia are correlated with the conclusions about the social need for just compensation of the damage suffered by the families of the victims of natural, man-made and other emergencies.

Does the value of human life in Russia increase with age and higher levels of education?

“…As shown in (Zubova 2022a), estimates of the value of life based on the compensating differential are significantly higher than any other estimates previously obtained for Russia using a different methodology, both with stated (2.4-13.3 million rubles in 2019 prices) Zubets and Novikov (2018) within their own econometric model (51.3-61.1 million rubles). They are also significantly higher than the amount of compensation to relatives of people who died under certain circumstances, fixed in legislative acts of the Russian Federation and court decisions: from 0.5 to 9.2 million rubles according to the results of the analysis carried out in (Zubets and Novikov 2018).…”

“…There are other approaches to assessing the value of life, including that based on the amount of life insurance death benefit, the amount of compensation to relatives of the deceased specified in regulatory legal acts, or the results of public surveys on the fair value of life. A detailed overview of the main approaches can be found, for example, in the works of (Nifantova and Shipitsyna 2012) and (Zubets and Novikov 2018). Nevertheless, the analysis of the compensating wage differential is currently the most reliable methodology (Bykov 2007;Viscusi and Masterman 2017;Banzhaf 2021).…”

“…In (Zubets and Novikov 2018), the authors present their own econometric model reflecting the population's decisions regarding migration between regions and at the country level, taking into account differences in life expectancy and average per capita income. Their estimates of the value of life are in the range from 51.3 to 61.1 million rubles.…”

Modern Invisible Hazard of Urban Air Environment Pollution When Operating Vehicles That Causes Large Economic Damage

“…Accordingly, the GDP, which has not been obtained due to a premature death of a person, is the cost of their life [11]. The performed legislation analysis showed that the total cost of human life in the world, as enshrined in the regulations, on the whole amounts to 4.7 million US dollars in 2011 prices [12,13].…”

Modern Increasing Environmental Problems of Atmosphere Pollution Leading to Significant Increase in Planet Population Deaths and Economic Damage to Global Economy

“…The human life cost (value of statistically average life) is a relative imputed economic value to determine which various methods and parameters are applied. The most objective assessment is performed based on the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita[9,12,13].Accordingly, the GDP which has not been obtained due to the premature death of a person is the cost of their life. The performed analysis of different legislations showed that the total cost of human life in the world, as enshrined in the regulations,on the whole amounts to 4.7 million US dollars [9,12,13].…”