MEASURING SOCIO-ECONOMIC COSTS OF ROAD ACCIDENTS: APPROACHES AND METHODS

Abstract

The article reviews the issues of measuring the value of human life as well as the socio-economic costs of road accidents. The vast amount of car accidents and the high volume of road accident deaths reflect the relevance of this topic. According to research of international organizations, Russia’s road safety levels are close to those found in developing countries. This fact raises the need for developing a new policy on ensuring road safety based on scientifically objective measures of potential socio-economic effects. Namely, the article analyzes how the current approaches and methods for measuring the value of human life can be adapted to assess the effects of fatal road accidents. The author was able to establish the most significant losses that occur from car accidents as well as the most widely applied methods used to quantify these costs. The conceptual framework of these methods relies on the Value of Human Capital and Willingness To Pay approaches. Among the main challenges of implementing these frameworks in Russia, the author cites the lack of statistical data that can be used to conduct these assessments. As part of the literature review the author assessed both Russian and foreign academic papers, that have previously focused on the issues of measuring socio-economics effects in both developed and developing nations. By analyzing the best global practices on road safety measures, the author was able to establish the main shortfalls of Russia in this area. In conclusion, the author provides a set of recommendations on enhancing the current statistical evidence base and improving ongoing monitoring systems for assessing the socio-economic costs of road accidents.

Keywords

• value of human life
• socio-economic costs of road accidents
• human capital
• ‘willingness to pay’ approach