Cost-Benefit Analysis and Public Policy


Book Description

This volume seeks to facilitate such exposure by drawing together into a convenient collection the fine articles on CBA and its application that have appeared in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (JPAM).




The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy


Book Description

What are the methodologies for assessing and improving governmental policy in light of well-being? The Oxford Handbook of Well-Being and Public Policy provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary treatment of this topic. The contributors draw from welfare economics, moral philosophy, and psychology and are leading scholars in these fields. The Handbook includes thirty chapters divided into four Parts. Part I covers the full range of methodologies for evaluating governmental policy and assessing societal condition-including both the leading approaches in current use by policymakers and academics (such as GDP, cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, inequality and poverty metrics, and the concept of the "social welfare function"), and emerging techniques. Part II focuses on the nature of well-being. What, most fundamentally, determines whether an individual life is better or worse for the person living it? Her happiness? Her preference-satisfaction? Her attainment of various "objective goods"? Part III addresses the measurement of well-being and the thorny topic of interpersonal comparisons. How can we construct a meaningful scale of individual welfare, which allows for comparisons of well-being levels and differences, both within one individual's life, and across lives? Finally, Part IV reviews the major challenges to designing governmental policy around individual well-being.




New Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis


Book Description

In this book, the authors reconceptualize cost-benefit analysis, arguing that its objective should be overall well-being rather than economic efficiency. This book not only places cost-benefit analysis on a firmer theoretical foundation, but also has many practical implications for how government agencies should undertake cost-benefit studies.




The Globalization of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Environmental Policy


Book Description

This book argues in favor of using cost-benefit analysis globally and examines the positive impact it can have in developing countries using relevant case studies. The book discusses the potential for cost-benefit analysis to provoke a global shift toward stronger and more effective economic policies.




Pricing Nature


Book Description

An impressive piece of work that deserves to be on every European agricultural economist s bookshelf. Jean-Christophe Bureau, European Review of Agricultural Economics This is an excellent text that could be used in specialist academic courses in environmental and natural resource economics, ecological economics and cost benefit analysis, as well as in interdisciplinary courses in public policy, planning and environmental management. David James, Australasian Journal of Environmental Management Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) is one of the most useful tools of applied economics for the social appraisal of public projects and government policies. Nick Hanley and Edward Barbier show how CBA can be applied to environmental policy choice and environmental resource management. They cover the conceptual underpinnings of CBA, practical methods for applying CBA, and a wide range of case study applications from Europe, North America and developing countries. Issues such as the value of ecosystem services and the special problems posed for CBA by environmental management are brought into close focus. The textbook is aimed at students on inter-disciplinary courses as well as those studying environmental economics, welfare economics and public policy. It will also be of interest to people in the policy community, NGOs and consultancy sectors.




Cost-Benefit Analysis


Book Description

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the systematic and analytical process of comparing benefits and costs in evaluating the desirability of a project or programme, often of a social nature and for society as a whole. CBA is fundamental to government decision-making and can be an effective tool for informed decisions on the use of society's scarce resources. This book highlights the main concepts and principles of cost-benefit analysis used in real life cases and actual applications. The book contains rich cases, materials and examples of real life CBA applications with emphasis both on physical and non-physical projects and infrastructure developments in Asia and beyond. The book also discusses techniques frequently used in applied CBA. The first part of the book introduces the key concepts and principles of CBA before Part Two covers some pertinent issues relating to CBA, such as the recent trend of using behavioural economics and frequently used techniques in applied CBA. Finally, in Part Three, case studies are written up to illustrate how CBA is done, and questions for the readers and students to ponder are raised at the end of each chapter. The scope of the case studies is more than just physical infrastructures but will include public sector policies and programmes covering a host of social policies as in health, education, social welfare programmes, and the environment. For each case, there will be illustrations of the key concepts and principles of CBA used. Undertakings analyzed include: the Three Gorges Dam in China the 2008 Beijing Olympics the Costs of Global Warming the Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh The case studies, many of which have taken or are to take place in developing countries provide a rich background to the principles of the method, and are accompanied by a wealth of explanatory material. As well as being suitable for courses in Cost-Benefit Analysis, Public Finance, Environmental and Health Economics, the book should be of interest to all public policy decision makers and planners.




Systems Analysis in Public Policy


Book Description




The Cost-Benefit Revolution


Book Description

Why policies should be based on careful consideration of their costs and benefits rather than on intuition, popular opinion, interest groups, and anecdotes. Opinions on government policies vary widely. Some people feel passionately about the child obesity epidemic and support government regulation of sugary drinks. Others argue that people should be able to eat and drink whatever they like. Some people are alarmed about climate change and favor aggressive government intervention. Others don't feel the need for any sort of climate regulation. In The Cost-Benefit Revolution, Cass Sunstein argues our major disagreements really involve facts, not values. It follows that government policy should not be based on public opinion, intuitions, or pressure from interest groups, but on numbers—meaning careful consideration of costs and benefits. Will a policy save one life, or one thousand lives? Will it impose costs on consumers, and if so, will the costs be high or negligible? Will it hurt workers and small businesses, and, if so, precisely how much? As the Obama administration's “regulatory czar,” Sunstein knows his subject in both theory and practice. Drawing on behavioral economics and his well-known emphasis on “nudging,” he celebrates the cost-benefit revolution in policy making, tracing its defining moments in the Reagan, Clinton, and Obama administrations (and pondering its uncertain future in the Trump administration). He acknowledges that public officials often lack information about costs and benefits, and outlines state-of-the-art techniques for acquiring that information. Policies should make people's lives better. Quantitative cost-benefit analysis, Sunstein argues, is the best available method for making this happen—even if, in the future, new measures of human well-being, also explored in this book, may be better still.




Strengthening Benefit-Cost Analysis for Early Childhood Interventions


Book Description

The deficiencies that many children experience from birth to school age-in health care, nutrition, emotional support, and intellectual stimulation, for example-play a major role in academic achievement gaps that persist for years, as well as in behavior and other problems. There are many intervention programs designed to strengthen families, provide disadvantaged children with the critical elements of healthy development, and prevent adverse experiences that can have lasting negative effects. In a climate of economic uncertainty and tight budgets, hard evidence not only that such interventions provide lasting benefits for children, their families, and society, but also that the benefits translate into savings that outweigh the costs is an extremely important asset in policy discussions. Convincing analysis of benefits and costs would provide a guide to the best ways to spend scarce resources for early childhood programs. Benefit-Cost Analysis for Early Childhood Interventions summarizes a workshop that was held to explore ways to strengthen benefit-cost analysis so it can be used to support effective policy decisions. This book describes the information and analysis that were presented at the workshop and the discussions that ensued.




Cost-Benefit Analysis of Environmental Health Interventions


Book Description

Cost-benefit Analysis of Environmental Health Interventions clearly articulates the core principles and fundamental methodologies underpinning the modern economic assessment of environmental intervention on human health. Taking a practical approach, the book provides a step-by-step approach to assigning a monetary value to the health benefits and disbenefits arising from interventions, using environmental information and epidemiological evidence. It summarizes environmental risk factors and explores how to interpret and understand epidemiological data using concentration-response, exposure-response or dose-response techniques, explaining the environmental interventions available for each environmental risk factor. It evaluates in detail two of the most challenging stages of Cost-Benefit Analysis in 'discounting' and 'accounting for uncertainty'. Further chapters describe how to analyze and critique results, evaluate potential alternatives to Cost-Benefit Analysis, and on how to engage with stakeholders to communicate the results of Cost-Benefit Analysis. The book includes a detailed case study how to conduct a Cost-Benefit Analysis. It is supported by an online website providing solution files and detailing the design of models using Excel. - Provides a clear understanding of the core theory of cost-benefit analysis in environmental health interventions - Provides practical guidance using real-world case studies to motivate and expand understanding - Describes the challenging 'discounting' and 'accounting for uncertainty' problems at chapter length - Supported by a practical case study, online solution files, and a practical guide to the design of CBA models using Excel