Benefits of Reducing Lead Paint Exposure

Health Canada directs programs to reduce in-home exposure of children to lead in paint. Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of such programs requires information on the value that parents place on avoided health effects. IEc consultants directed a stated-preference survey and subsequent analysis to characterize parental willingness-to-pay (WTP) for preventing intellectual impairment and avoiding hyperactivity in children exposed to lead.

IEc first adapted a survey instrument originally applied in the U.S. and ushered the survey through the review process with Canada’s Research Ethics Board. We then conducted a series of focus groups to test the survey instrument and made refinements to the survey to improve its objectivity and statistical reliability. IEc worked with Canada’s largest market research and polling firm to administer the survey via Internet to a random sample of approximately 1,000 households in Ontario province with young children and older homes. IEc used the resulting data set in logistic regression models designed to estimate the average household’s WTP per IQ point preserved, analyzing the findings in comparison to those in the existing health economics literature. Other model variables isolated WTP to avoid hyperactivity symptoms in children, a first in the economics literature.

Throughout this effort, IEc worked closely with a team of researchers, including the original survey authors at Resources for the Future and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Canadian academic economists; and polling experts at Ipsos.