Measurement of Parameters to Value Human Life Extension

In safety analysis as in engineering, the development of a satisfactory mathematical model is required to identify the parameters that need to be measured and calculated. The establishment of a proper calculus of safety begins with the recognition that the fundamental concept is life expectancy, and then, by extension, the increase in life expectancy that a safety measure brings about. J-value analysis, which rests on this concept, is a method of estimating how much should be spent on a new safety system to improve health and/or safety, with the amount depending on both actuarial and economic data. Measurements made to quantify the first J-value trade-off between the average person's free-time fraction and his income result in an inferential estimate of the elasticity of marginal utility. This is an important economic parameter in its own right, and moreover feeds into a second trade-off between life expectancy and income, which J-value analysis shows to be the balance that must be struck in evaluating a new safety scheme.