Labor market estimates of the senior discount for the value of statistical life

This article develops the first measures of age–industry job risks to examine the age variations in the value of statistical life. Because of the greater risk vulnerability of older workers, they face flatter wage-risk gradients than younger workers, which we show to be the case empirically. Accounting for this heterogeneity in hedonic market equilibria leads to estimates of the value of statistical life–age relationship that follows an inverted U shape. The estimates of the value of statistical life range from $6.4 million for younger workers to a peak of $9.0 million for those aged 35–44, and then a decline to $3.8 million for those aged 55–62. The decline of the estimated value of statistical life with age is consistent with there being some senior discount in the Clear Skies Initiative analysis.     

Conservative versus Mean Risk Assessments: Implications for Superfund Policies

This paper explores how a shift to more central estimates of risk would affect EPA decisions to remediate hazardous waste sites in the Superfund program. Analysis of 141 sites indicates that the EPA's use of conservative parameter values results in risk estimates that are 27 times greater than those based on mean values. Over 40% of sites requiring remediation would shift into the discretionary cleanup range if mean parameters were used. Though this paper examines the effect of using mean parameters for contaminant concentrations, exposure duration, and ingestion rates, additional adjustments for other conservative parameters might increase this effect.     

Environmental policy choice with an uncertain chance of irreversibility

An uncertain chance of irreversibility leads to lower levels of investment than in the reversible case if there is downward irreversibility, higher levels of investment if there is upward irreversibility, and a possible effect in either direction in the case of complete irreversibility. In all of these situations there will be an effect on initial policy investments whenever there is a nonzero probability that the irreversibility constraint is binding. The policy design is based on equating initial marginal costs to conditional marginal benefits over the states in which the initial policy scale decision will be the policy choice. The maximum attainable policy value is convex with respect to the probability of irreversibility.     

Gelatin Beads/Hemp Hurd as pH Sensitive Devices for Delivery of Eugenol as Green Pesticide

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - In this paper gelatin beads reinforced with natural hemp hurd have been produced as pH sensitive devices for the release of eugenol, as green pesticide....     

Environmental policy choice under uncertainty

The Markovian model provides an insightful structure for analyzing environmental policy decisions. This framework is applied to a variety of conceptual issues. The analysis of reswitching phenomena shows that when multiple risks are involved, there is unlikely to be an unambiguous ranking of policies according to their future-mindedness. The discussion of irreversibilities demonstrates that irreversibilities differ only in degree from other probabilistic structures; they create no special analytic complications. In the final section, the Markovian decision framework is extended to incorporate the impact of budgetary constraints on optimal decisions.     

Physicochemical and Antioxidant Properties of White (Fiano cv) and Red (Negroamaro cv) Grape Pomace Skin Based Films

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Grape pomace, as by-product of wine making, is a source of polyphenols, fibers, fatty acids, metals, and organic acids, which could be used as raw...