Over the past two decades, economic theory has extended its field of application to non-market goods such as environmental resources and health. Although it is impossible to assign a price to these goods on the basis of market mechanisms alone, the fact that they have no price does not mean that they have no value. One technique in which economists have shown a marked interest is the contingent valuation method (CVM), which has mainly been used to assign a monetary value to environmental goods. It was first applied to natural resources used for recreational purposes. CVM has been applied to health only recently, so that studies in this field are relatively more scarce than those dealing with the environment, although several valuation methodology surveys are available. There has hitherto been no book which has drawn together and analyzed recent contingent valuations in the field of transport accidents. Contingent Valuation, Transport Safety and the Value of Life provides an overview of the experiments conducted in Europe (Denmark, France, the U.K., Sweden and Switzerland). While a number of contributions are critical, others show how the estimates obtained in the area of road transport can be used to assess the adverse health effects of other causes, such as public transport accidents or air pollution.

The economic analysis of tobacco consumption is a complex and challenging issue, which entails addressing many different questions: What is the economic burden of smoking and do smokers pay their way'?How do individuals perceive their own health risks?What is the effect of the addictive properties of nicotine on the behavior of a rational, utility-maximizing individual? What is the most effective way to discourage tobacco consumption? In this context, the assessment of the social burden of smoking using a cost-of-illness framework has played a central role since the beginning of the 1970s. Interest in this type of study has grown even more in the wake of the lawsuits brought by American states against the tobacco companies with the aim of recovering excessive medical costs resulting from smoking-related diseases. Economists argue that there is no need for government intervention on condition that smokers receive accurate information about the health hazards - including the risk of addiction - and that they bear all the costs of smoking themselves. Economists agree on this last point: smokers bear most if not all of the economic costs of tobacco consumption. Moreover, a better understanding of the determinants of smoking and of the public perception of the risks of smoking could help decision-makers to improve the design of tobacco control policies.The purpose of Valuing the Cost of Smoking is to review the various methods used to value the adverse health outcomes of smoking, from the standard human capital approach to the new preference-based methods with which intangibles can be assessed. This volume should also help understand better the behavior of smokers as well as the factors thatdetermine the demand for cigarettes. Finally, the volume contains a review of the scientific evidence regarding the effectiveness of taxes in reducing tobacco use.

This book is unique in that it brings together a wide range of disciplines and experience from several countries. What are possible models of governance? How do we measure their effects in terms of efficiency and equity? What type of contribution can financial and information systems make? How do we adapt the prevailing culture to the challenge of better performance? These are some of the concrete questions to which this book provides an answer.

CLAUDEJEANRENAUD NILS SOGUEL Smoking is a very common habit all over the world. The prevalence rate ranges from 20% - 40% in industrialised countries, and is dramatically increasing in the developing world. Smoking is risky and there is ample scientific evidence to support this statement. We know that smoking is a major cause of disease and premature death, in view of the fact that 3 million people die each year worldwide as a result of their smoking habit. Twenty years ago, the U. S. Surgeon General identified smoking as the single most important cause of morbidity and premature death (USDHEW, 1979). Tobacco consnmption reduces life expectancy vastly. Epidemiological research shows that people who have died from a smoking-related disease would, on average, have lived for an additional 15 years had they not been smokers (Warner, 1987). The economic analysis of tobacco consumption is a complex and challenging issue, which entails addressing many different questions. What is the economic burden of smoking and do smokers "pay their way"? How do individuals perceive their own health risks? What is the effect of the addicting properties of nicotine on the behaviour of a rational, utility maximizing individual? Lastly, what is the most effective way to discourage tobacco consumption? In this context, the assessment of the social burden of smoking using a cost-of-illness framework has played a central role since the beginning of the seventies."

Over the past two decades, economic theory has extended its field of application to non-market goods such as environmental resources and health. Although it is impossible to assign a price to these goods on the basis of market mechanisms alone, the fact that they have no price does not mean that they have no value. One technique in which economists have shown a marked interest is the contingent valuation method (CVM), which has mainly been used to assign a monetary value to environmental goods. It was first applied to natural resources used for recreational purposes. CVM has been applied to health only recently, so that studies in this field are relatively more scarce than those dealing with the environment, although several valuation methodology surveys are available. There has hitherto been no book which has drawn together and analyzed recent contingent valuations in the field of transport accidents. Contingent Valuation, Transport Safety and the Value of Life provides an overview of the experiments conducted in Europe (Denmark, France, the U.K., Sweden and Switzerland). While a number of contributions are critical, others show how the estimates obtained in the area of road transport can be used to assess the adverse health effects of other causes, such as public transport accidents or air pollution.

Educational systems are now more than ever faced with the challenge of improving their performance and proving that suitable measures are being taken to guarantee greater efficiency regarding equity. Bringing together a wide range of disciplines and experience in several countries, this book details possible models of governance and describes ways to measure their effects in terms of efficiency and equity.