Willingness to pay for mortality risk reduction associated with air pollution in São Paulo

Epidemiological studies report significant association between air pollution and cardiovascular and respiratory mortality. Governmental intervention is required to implement policies aiming to increase air quality, and cost-benefit analysis can be useful to evaluate such policies. Reductions in risks of death are arguably the most important benefit underlying air-quality policies, and therefore need to be valued in money terms. This paper presents a contingent valuation study conducted in São Paulo to estimate the population’s willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce their risk of death and the correspondent value of a statistical life (VSL). Results ranged between US$ 0.77 – US$ 6.1 million.