Urban environmental health and sensitive populations: How much are the Italians willing to pay to reduce their risks?

We use contingent valuation to elicit WTP for a reduction in the risk of dying for cardiovascular and respiratory causes, the most important causes of premature mortality during heat waves and air pollution episodes, among the Italian public. We find that WTP depends on respondent age and health. WTP increases with the size of the risk reduction, but is not strictly proportional to it. All else the same, older individuals are willing to pay less for a given risk reduction than younger individuals, and poor health tends to raise WTP. Our results support the notion that the VSL is "individuated." (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.