Contents: Incorporating the Effect of Reduced Life Expectancy into Awards for Future Costs of Care by David Strauss, Robert Shavelle, Christopher Pflaum, & Christopher Bruce In this article David Strauss, Robert Shavelle, Christopher Pflaum, and Christopher Bruce argue that the method used by most economists and actuaries for calculating life expectancy among the seriously disabled […]
Read More...Year: 2000
What is Econometrics?
In this article Chris Bruce and Kelly Rathje explain the fundamental principles of “econometrics”.
Read More...Evaluation of Harm to a Class of Individuals
In this article Kelly Rathje explains how the estimates of damages can be improved if the plaintiff is one of a class of individuals who have been affected by the same harm. In such cases, a statistical technique known as econometrics can be employed to compare the earnings capacity of the victims of the harm with the earnings capacity of a randomly selected sample of individuals who have not been so-harmed. This technique can be used, for example, to determine the impact of sexual abuse on a students at an orphanage or residential school.
Read More...Incorporating the Effect of Reduced Life Expectancy into Awards for Future Costs of Care
In this article David Strauss, Robert Shavelle, Christopher Pflaum, and Christopher Bruce argue that the method used by most economists and actuaries for calculating life expectancy among the seriously disabled is flawed. They argue that this method leads to the systematic overestimation of costs of future care. They show, for example, that the costs of care for plaintiffs with cerebral palsy are commonly overestimated by 10 to 15 percent. Strauss and Shavelle are able to provide life expectancy data that correct for this error.
Read More...Autumn 2000 issue of the Expert Witness newsletter (volume 5, issue 3)
Contents: Selecting the Discount Rate by Christopher Bruce In this article we begin by providing clear definitions of a number of fundamental concepts. These include: real interest rate; nominal interest rate; discount rate; real return bonds; and core rate of inflation. We then summarise the recent statistical data for various measures of inflation and interest […]
Read More...Ontario’s Mandated Discount Rate – Rule 53.09(1)
In this article Chris Bruce discusses the recent changes to Ontario’s mandated discount rate – as specified in their Rule 53.09(1).
Read More...Selecting the Discount Rate
In this article we begin by providing clear definitions of a number of fundamental concepts. These include: real interest rate; nominal interest rate; discount rate; real return bonds; and core rate of inflation. We then summarise the recent statistical data for various measures of inflation and interest rates in Canada. Finally, we use those data to calculate the “real interest” rate and to forecast a long-run discount rate. We conclude from this analysis that that rate appears to be 4.0 percent. However, as there has been some recent volatility in interest rates, we propose to revisit our forecast a year from now.
Read More...Summer 2000 issue of the Expert Witness newsletter (volume 5, issue 2)
Contents: Case Comment: Madge v. Meyer by Scott Beesley This article concerns a case in which there was no apparent loss of income following a farm owner’s injury. Mr. Beesley notes that it is critical to separate the farm income generated through the assistance of a friend or family member from the income earned by […]
Read More...Combining Occupational Options
In this article, Christopher Bruce notes that it is often not clear at the time of trial what occupation the plaintiff would have entered had he or she not been injured, or what occupation he/she will now enter. In these cases, it is common for the vocational expert to offer a menu of possible occupations that are consistent with the plaintiff’s observed interests and aptitudes. In his article, Dr. Bruce looks at how one could combine these occupations (and the corresponding incomes) in order to determine an average, expected income for the plaintiff.
Read More...Case Comment: Madge v. Meyer
This article concerns a case in which there was no apparent loss of income following a farm owner’s injury. Mr. Beesley notes that it is critical to separate the farm income generated through the assistance of a friend or family member from the income earned by the injured farm owner. If the income generated by an unpaid (or underpaid) worker is attributed to the injured owner then the injured person’s loss of income could be greatly underestimated.
Read More...Spring 2000 issue of the Expert Witness newsletter (volume 5, issue 1)
Contents: The Impact of Disability on Earnings: Results of the Health and Activity Limitation Survey by Christopher Bruce, Derek Aldridge, & Kris Aksomitis This article presents some information from Statistics Canada’s Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS). Although HALS was one of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted on the effects of disability, Statistics Canada […]
Read More...Two interesting web sites relating to disabilities
This article is a brief description of two excellent web sites relating to disabilities that may interest our readers.
Read More...The Impact of Disability on Earnings: Results of the Health and Activity Limitation Survey
This article presents some information from Statistics Canada’s Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS). Although HALS was one of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted on the effects of disability, Statistics Canada has chosen to publish results from that survey in a form that is not of great value to litigators. Accordingly, HALS has become one of those sources that is referred to far more often than it is employed.
Economica has obtained access to Statistics Canada’s electronic records of over 100,000 individual questionnaires from HALS. This has allowed us to estimate income and education levels for each of four levels of disability, for both males and females, cross-categorised by four levels of education and four age groups. In their article, Christopher Bruce, Derek Aldridge, and Kris Aksomitis report the statistics derived from this process. Although the statistics reported there are too aggregated to allow practitioners to estimate damages in specific cases, they can act as a check to see whether the damages calculated in any particular case are “reasonable.”
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