Estimation of State-Dependent Utility Functions Using Survey Data

Surveys of individual's risk-dollar tradeotfs illumi· nate not only the local tradeoff rates but also can be used to address more fundamental questions about the structure of utility functions. This largely unexplored empi~ical area (s investigated by developing an econometric techn1que to est1· mate utility functions based on survey data on risk-dollar tradeoffs for minor health effects. The empirical tests indicate that for all but one of the temporary health effects consid· ered. consumers treat injuries as tantamount to a drop in income. implying that the health impact does not alter the structure of the utility function in a fundamental way.