What <i>Should</i> We Know About Making Risk Comparisons?<sup>1</sup>

Slovic, Paul; Kraus, Nancy; Covello, Vincent T.

doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.1990.tb00521.x

Cited by 55 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…Thus, a particular comparison may be considered highly acceptable when used by a university professor to foster student understanding of a particular environmental risk, but much less so when used by a company trying to gain public approval for siting of a hazardous facility. Slovic et al (1990) note that "comparisons of unrelated risks are frequently advanced as a means for setting priorities and determining which risks are acceptable," even though such risk comparisons usually fail to capture the wide variety of issues that influence judgments of risk acceptability.…”

Section: Empirical Results Regarding Risk Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

Bier¹

2001

Reliability Engineering & System Safety

185

108

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Section: Empirical Results Regarding Risk Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

Bier¹

2001

Reliability Engineering & System Safety

185

108

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“…The scenario method is ideal for analyzing subjective reactions to phenomena and events (Lind and Tyler, 1981). For example, researchers such as Slovic et al (1990) and Johnson (2004) have used scenarios to ascertain the effects of risk comparisons on public reactions to risk.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of the risks and benefits ofBteggplant by Indian farmers

Chong

2005

Journal of Risk Research

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Several researchers-most notably Lennart Sjoberg and his colleagues-have proposed that the moral aspects of risk provide a better explanation of risk perception than the psychometric paradigm or Cultural Theory, neither of which accounts for moral concerns. This study is possibly the first to assess empirically the perception of the risks and benefits of a transgenic food crop-transgenic Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) eggplant-by farmers in a developing country such as India. It also aims to assess if the moral aspects of risk figure in Indian farmers' perception of Bt eggplant and if economic benefits outweigh perceived risks. To answer the research questions, a scenario was used to elicit perceptions of Bt eggplant among 100 eggplant farmers in the state of Maharashtra in India. The findings indicate that economic benefits, safety concerns, and accountability are most salient to Indian farmers' perception of the risks and benefits of Bt eggplant. Significantly, none of the farmers mentioned moral concerns as an issue. The findings also make clear that economic benefits outweigh perceived risks. This study concludes that economic benefits are more salient than moral concerns to Indian farmers' perception Bt eggplant. It also proposes that an alternative theoretical model incorporating economic benefits, safety concerns, and accountability as key variables should be developed and tested for end users in the developing world.

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“…The effect of a number of explanatory factors on risk perception is thus studied: typically, these include socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the involved population, popular attitudes about uncertain events, and concerns about the ongoing risk scenario. [Slovic et al, 1990;Alhakam and Slovic, 1994;Slovic et al,1997;Slovic, 1999;Sjoberg, 1998Sjoberg, , 2000 In our comparative analysis, we looked into differences between studies in the way they model popular risk perception, with the aim of investigating their causality direction with respect to WTPs. This information is captured by the RISKPERC variable (Table 5).…”

Section: The Monetary Valuationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticide risk valuation in empirical economics: a comparative approach

Travisi

Nijkamp

Vindigni

2006

Ecological Economics

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Pesticide use in agriculture poses several risks to both human health and non-target agro-ecosystems. Due to lack of information on the monetary value of reducing pesticide risks, it is difficult to perform an economic analysis that addresses social efficiency of policy and draws conclusions about the appropriate degree of regulation. The aim of the current paper is to present a critical overview of the empirical literature on pesticide risk valuation that provides disaggregate willingness-to-pay estimates (WTPs) of pesticide risks reduction. Recent multidimensional classification methods, such as coined decision tree analysis, are used in a comparative approach as tools for explaining the differences in empirical research findings. The analysis shows that the magnitude of WTPs is related to both the valuation technique and to the data available from biomedical and eco-toxicological literature. It also shows that WTP estimates of pesticide risks cannot be simply averaged over several empirical studies. The order of magnitude of a WTP estimate is, in fact, related to the specific type of risk and to the nature of the risk scenario considered, as well to lay people's subjective perception of risks.

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What Should We Know About Making Risk Comparisons?¹

Cited by 55 publications

References 9 publications

On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

Perception of the risks and benefits ofBteggplant by Indian farmers

Pesticide risk valuation in empirical economics: a comparative approach

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What Should We Know About Making Risk Comparisons?1

Cited by 55 publications

References 9 publications

On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

On the state of the art: risk communication to the public

Perception of the risks and benefits ofBteggplant by Indian farmers

Pesticide risk valuation in empirical economics: a comparative approach

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Product

Resources

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What Should We Know About Making Risk Comparisons?¹