Hedonic Damages

Hedonic Damages

Hedonic Damages

Hedonic damages testimony offers an economic valuation of life or the loss of enjoyment, typically derived from willingness-to-pay studies and wage-risk premiums. Most courts exclude the testimony as unreliable.

The underlying studies were designed for regulatory policy.

Alternative Names:

Value of Life Damages, Hedonic Value

Why it Matters?

Exclusion is the usual outcome because the willingness-to-pay literature was developed for cost-benefit analysis of regulations rather than individual valuation, and the resulting figures vary enormously across studies. The methodology also cannot account for individual circumstances. Moving to exclude is straightforward where the testimony appears, and the more common current practice is arguing loss of enjoyment without economic quantification.

Frequently asked questions

Why is hedonic damages testimony excluded?

Why is hedonic damages testimony excluded?

Because the willingness-to-pay literature was developed for regulatory cost-benefit analysis, produces widely varying figures, and cannot address individual circumstances.

What is the current practice?

What is the current practice?

Arguing loss of enjoyment as non-economic damages without economic quantification, which avoids the admissibility problem.