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Calculating Compensation in Cases of Wrongful Death

Author

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  • Arthur Lewbel

    (Boston College)

Abstract
Death statutes in the United States list elements of loss for which a defendant must make compensatory payment. The element that economists as expert witnesses are called upon to calculate is net income, roughly defined as the decedent's income minus personal expenses. The existence of joint or shared consumption goods complicates the definition and calculation of net income. Net income can be interpreted as the money required for survivors to attain the same standard of living as before. Equivalence scales traditionally used for this type of calculation are flawed. A new method for calculating net income is proposed, based on a collective household model.

Suggested Citation

  • Arthur Lewbel, 2002. "Calculating Compensation in Cases of Wrongful Death," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 523, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 07 Jun 2002.
    • Handle: RePEc:boc:bocoec:523
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Berges, Miriam & Echeverría, Lucía & Rodríguez Biasone, Juan Ignacio, 2021. "El costo de los niños y su impacto en el presupuesto de las familias. Un análisis para Argentina," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3484, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    3. Donni, Olivier & Molina, José Alberto, 2018. "Household Collective Models: Three Decades of Theoretical Contributions and Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 11915, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Menon, Martina & Pendakur, Krishna & Perali, Federico, 2012. "On the expenditure-dependence of children’s resource shares," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 739-742.
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    6. Olivier Bargain, 2017. "Welfare analysis and redistributive policies," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 15(4), pages 393-419, December.
    7. Wilman Javier Iglesias Pinedo & Alexandre Bragança Coelho, 2018. "Using A Collective Model To Evaluate Intra-Household Inequality And Individual Poverty In Brazil," Anais do XLIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 44th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 131, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    8. Bargain, Olivier & Donni, Olivier & Kwenda, Prudence, 2014. "Intrahousehold distribution and poverty: Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 262-276.
    9. Francisco Javier Lasso V. & Cristian Camilo Frasser L., 2015. "Calidad del empleo y bienestar: un análisis con escalas de equivalencia," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 33(77), pages 117-132, June.
    10. Toshinobu Matsuda, 2005. "Differential Demand Systems: A Further Look at Barten's Synthesis," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 71(3), pages 607-619, January.
    11. Aline Bütikofer & Michael Gerfin, 2017. "The economies of scale of living together and how they are shared: estimates based on a collective household model," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 433-453, June.
    12. Olivier Bargain & Olivier Donni & Prudence Kwenda, 2011. "Intrahousehold Distribution and Child Poverty: Theory and Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire," Working Papers 2011-031, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    13. Frederic Vermeulen & André Watteyne, 2003. "Quand un et un ne font plus deux: calcul d'échelles d'équivalence intra-familiales au moyen d'un modèle collectif," Public Economics Working Paper Series wpechco, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centrum voor Economische Studiën, Working Group Public Economics.
    14. DECANCQ, Koen & FLEURBAEY, Marc & SCHOKKAERT, Erik, 2014. "Inequality, income, and well-being," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2014018, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    15. Martin Browning & Pierre-André Chiappori & Arthur Lewbel, 2013. "Estimating Consumption Economies of Scale, Adult Equivalence Scales, and Household Bargaining Power," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(4), pages 1267-1303.
    16. Alaa Al-Hinai & Hemanatha Jayasuriya & Pankaj B. Pathare, 2022. "Development of Guidelines and Procedures for Value Addition to Improve Productivity and Sustainability: Case of Dates in Oman," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.
    17. Vermeulen, Frederic & Watteyne, André, 2006. "Quand un et un ne font plus deux," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 82(1), pages 155-180, mars-juin.
    18. Bargain, Olivier B. & Donni, Olivier, 2009. "The Measurement of Child Costs: A Rothbarth-Type Method Consistent with Scale Economies," IZA Discussion Papers 4654, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Olivier Bargain & Olivier Donni & Monnet Gbakou, 2010. "The Measurement of Child Costs: Evidence from Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 41(1), pages 1-20.
    20. BARGAIN Olivier & DONNI Olivier, 2010. "The Measurement of Child Costs: A Rothbarth-Type Method Consistent with Scale Economies and Parents’ Bargaining," LISER Working Paper Series 2010-30, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    21. Olivier Bargain & Laurine Martinoty, 2019. "Crisis at home: mancession-induced change in intrahousehold distribution," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(1), pages 277-308, January.
    22. Bargain, Olivier B. & Donni, Olivier & Magejo, Prudence, 2011. "Intrahousehold Distribution and Child Poverty: Theory and Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire," IZA Discussion Papers 6029, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Bargain, Olivier & Donni, Olivier, 2012. "Expenditure on children: A Rothbarth-type method consistent with scale economies and parents' bargaining," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 792-813.
    24. Fabrizio Balli & Silvia Tiezzi, 2011. "Equivalence Scales Declining with Expenditure: Evidence and Implications for Income Distribution," Department of Economics University of Siena 611, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    25. Zhizhin, Leonid & Knorre, Alex & Kuchakov, Ruslan & Skougarevskiy, Dmitriy, 2023. "Cost of crime in Russia: A compensating variation approach," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 69, pages 91-120.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wrongful death; death statutes; adult equivalence scales; consumer demand; household bargaining; insurance. Classification- JEL:K1; D1; J17; C30; I31;
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