A review of cost measures for the economic impact of domestic violence.
Although economic analyses of domestic violence typically guide decisions concerning resource allocation, allowing policy makers to make better informed decisions on how to prioritize and allocate scarce resources, the methods adopted to calculate domestic violence costs have varied widely from study to study. In particular, only a few studies have reviewed the cost measures of the economic impact of domestic violence. This article reviews and compares these measures by covering approaches to categorizing costs, the cost components, and ways to estimate them and recommends an integrated framework that brings the various approaches together. Some issues still need to be addressed when further developing measures such as including omitted but significant measures and expanding the time horizons of others. The implications for future study of domestic violence costs are discussed.
Chan
Ko Ling
KL
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. eklchan@hku.hk
Cho
Esther Yin-Nei
EY
D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis / Q000145:classification / Q000379:methods; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000191:economics; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000191:economics*; D004526:Efficiency; D005191:Family Characteristics; D014943:Global Health; D006078:Government Programs / Q000191:economics; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000191:economics