HCRA Faculty: James Hammitt

HCRA Faculty

James Hammitt

Professor of Economics and Decision Sciences
Department of Health Policy and Management

Center for Risk Analysis
718 Huntington Avenue
Boston MA 02115
phone: 617-432-4343
Email: jkh@harvard.edu
Other Affiliations:

    Director, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis
    Chaire Pierre de Fermat, Institut d'Economie Industrielle et Laboratoire d'Economie des Ressources Naturelle, Université Toulouse 1 Sciences Sociales
    Faculty Steering Committee, Harvard Environmental Economics Program
    Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Chair)
    Environmental Economics Advisory Committee, Science Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
    Science Advisory Board, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
    Scientific Advisory Board, Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs

Education

    A.B. magna cum laude, 1978, Applied Mathematics, Harvard College
    Sc.M., 1978, Applied Mathematics, Harvard University
    M.P.P., 1981, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
    Ph.D., 1988, Public Policy, Harvard University

Research Interests:

    Professor Hammitt's research concerns the development and application of quantitative methods-including benefit-cost, decision, and risk analysis-to health and environmental policy. Topics include management of long-term environmental issues with important scientific uncertainties, such as global climate change and stratospheric-ozone depletion, evaluation of ancillary benefits and countervailing risks associated with risk-control measures, and characterization of social preferences over health and environmental risks using revealed-preference, contingent-valuation, and health-utility methods.

Publications:

    J.K. Hammitt, "Valuing Changes in Mortality Risk: Lives Saved vs. Life Years Saved," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, in press.

    J.K. Hammitt and M.E. Ibarrarán, "The Economic Value of Reducing Fatal and Non-Fatal Occupational Risks in Mexico City using Actuarial- and Perceived-Risk Estimates," Health Economics Letters 15: 1329-1335, 2006

    J.K. Hammitt and Y. Zhou, "The Economic Value of Air-Pollution-Related Health Risks in China: A Contingent Valuation Study," Environment and Resource Economics 33(3): 399-423, 2006.

    J.K. Hammitt, J.B. Wiener, B. Swedlow, D. Kall, Z. Zhou, "Precautionary Regulation in Europe and the United States: A Quantitative Comparison," Risk Analysis 25(5): 1215-1228, 2005.

    G. Stevens, A.M. Wilson, and J.K. Hammitt, "A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Retrofitting Diesel Vehicles with Particulate Filters in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area," Risk Analysis 25(4): 883-899, 2005.

    J.-T. Liu, J.K. Hammitt, J.-D. Wang, and M.-W. Tsou, "Valuation of the Risk of SARS in Taiwan," Health Economics Letters 8(3): 3-11, 2004, also published in Health Economics 14(1): 83-91, 2005.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Economic Implications of Hormesis," Human and Experimental Toxicology 23(6): 267-278, 2004.

    J.K. Hammitt and J.-T. Liu, "Effects of Disease Type and Latency on the Value of Mortality Risk," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 28(1): 73-95, 2004.

    L.R. Eeckhoudt and J.K. Hammitt, "Does Risk Aversion Increase the Value of Mortality Risk?" Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 47: 13-29, 2004.

    S.-Y. Chou, J.T. Liu, and J.K. Hammitt, "National Health Insurance and Precautionary Saving: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Public Economics 87: 1873-1894, 2003.

    J.T. Cohen, J.K. Hammitt, and J.I. Levy, "Fuels for Urban Transit Buses: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis," Environmental Science and Technology 37: 1477-1484, 2003.

    E.L. Toy and J.K. Hammitt, "Safety Impacts of SUVs, Vans, and Pickup Trucks in Two-Vehicle Crashes," Risk Analysis 23(4): 641-650, 2003.

    J.K. Hammitt, "QALYs versus WTP," Risk Analysis 22(5): 985-1001, 2002.

    P. Hofstetter and J.K. Hammitt, "Selecting Human Health Metrics for Environmental Decision Support Tools," Risk Analysis 22(5): 965-983, 2002.

    L.R. Eeckhoudt and J.K. Hammitt, "Background Risks and the Value of a Statistical Life," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 23(3): 261-279, 2001.

    P.S. Corso, J.K. Hammitt, and J.D. Graham, "Valuing Mortality-Risk Reduction: Using Visual Aids to Improve the Validity of Contingent Valuation," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 23(2): 165-184, 2001.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Analytic Methods for Environmental Regulation in the United States: Promise, Pitfalls, and Politics," International Journal of Risk Assessment & Management 1(1/2): 105-124, 2000.

    J.-T. Liu, J.K. Hammitt, J.-D. Wang, and J.-L. Liu, "Mother's Willingness to Pay for Her Own and Her Child's Health: A Contingent Valuation Study in Taiwan," Health Economics 9: 319-326, 2000.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Global Climate Change: Benefit-Cost Analysis vs. the Precautionary Principle," Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 6(3): 387-398, 2000.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Are The Costs of Proposed Environmental Regulations Overestimated? Evidence from the CFC Phaseout," Environmental and Resource Economics 16(3): 281-301, 2000.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Valuing Mortality Risk: Theory and Practice," Environmental Science and Technology 34(8): 1396-1400, 2000.

    J.K. Hammitt and J.D. Graham, "Willingness to Pay for Health Protection: Inadequate Sensitivity to Probability?" Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 18(1): 33-62, 1999.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Evaluation Endpoints and Climate Policy: Atmospheric Stabilization, Benefit-Cost Analysis, and Near-Term Greenhouse-Gas Emissions," Climatic Change 41(3/4): 447-468, 1999.

    J.K. Hammitt and A.I. Shlyakhter, "The Expected Value of Information and the Probability of Surprise," Risk Analysis 19(1): 135-152, 1999.

    J.K. Hammitt, "Environmental False Alarms and Policy Implications," Environment and Development Economics 3(4): 511-516, 1998.

    S. Garber and J.K. Hammitt, "Risk Premiums for Environmental Liability: Does Superfund Increase the Cost of Capital?" Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 36(3): 267-294, 1998.

    J.-T. Liu, J.K. Hammitt, and J.-L. Liu, "Estimated Hedonic Wage Function and Value of Life in a Developing Country," Economics Letters 57(3): 353-358, 1997.

    J.K. Hammitt and J.L. Adams, "The Value of International Cooperation for Abating Global Climate Change," Resource and Energy Economics 18: 219-241, 1996.

    J.K. Hammitt, A.K. Jain, J.L. Adams, and D.J. Wuebbles, "A Welfare-Based Index for Assessing Environmental Effects of Greenhouse-Gas Emissions," Nature 381: 301-303, 1996.

    J.K. Hammitt, R.J. Lempert, and M.E. Schlesinger, "A Sequential-Decision Strategy for Abating Climate Change," Nature 357: 315-318, 1992.

    J.K. Hammitt, F. Camm, P.S. Connell, W.E. Mooz, K. Wolf, D.J. Wuebbles, and A. Bamezai, "Future Emission Scenarios for Chemicals that May Deplete Stratospheric Ozone," Nature 330: 711-716, 1987.

    J.K. Hammitt, S.J. Carroll, and D.A. Relles, "Tort Standards and Jury Decisions," Journal of Legal Studies 14(3): 751-762, 1985.

    J.E. Rolph, J.K. Hammitt, and R.L. Houchens, "Automobile Accident Compensation: Who Pays How Much How Soon?" Journal of Risk and Insurance 52(4): 667-685, 1985.

    J.K. Hammitt and J.E. Rolph, "Limiting Liability for Automobile Accidents: Are No-Fault Tort Thresholds Effective?" Law and Policy 7(4): 493-507, 1985.

International Research Projects

Websites
  • HCRA -- Harvard Center for Risk Analysis

  • IDEI -- Institut d'Economie Industrielle, Université Toulouse 1 Sciences Sociales


  • HEEP -- Harvard Environmental Economics Program


  • HUCE -- Harvard University Center for the Environment