Precursors to Benefit-Cost Analysis in Early United States Public Investment Projects

1973 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence G. Hines
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Benefit Cost

Environmental regulation, benefit-cost analysis and the policy environment in less developed countries

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROB DAVIES
Keyword(s):  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
General Argument ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Investment Projects ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
Physical Investment

The general argument presented by Arrow et al. runs as follows: government regulation might improve on free market outcomes, since markets sometimes misallocate resources. However, the costs of regulations need to be assessed against their presumed benefits. Benefit-cost analysis is a valuable technique for making such an assessment, even though it was developed for the appraisal of physical investment projects. However, since the technique is not perfect, it should not provide the only input into the process, but rather be part of an array of evidence.

European and International Perspectives on Benefit-Cost Analysis: Symposium Introduction

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63
Author(s):  
Massimo Florio
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Project ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Regulatory Impact Analysis ◽  
Benefit Cost

AbstractThe idea of assessing the costs and benefits of public and private projects is not new to Europe, dating back to studies at the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees (Paris) in the XIX century. Later on, in the last century, Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) in its current form has been more extensively used in the United States than in Europe. In the last two decades, however, there has been a rapid increase in its use in a number of European countries and at the European Union (EU) level. European governments often undertake tasks that would be done by private companies in the United States, such as the provision of transport, energy, water and waste management, health services, etc. In the United States the focus of BCA has often been regulatory impact analysis, rather than public project evaluation. One might, therefore, expect that Europeans might approach some things differently from their American counterparts and that new insights might result from these efforts. The articles in this symposium, taken from the recent European Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (SBCA) conference in Toulouse, illustrate some of these differences and some converging themes.

Environmental Benefit-Cost Analysis: A Comparative Analysis Between the United States and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Aldy ◽  
Giles Atkinson ◽  
Matthew J. Kotchen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Cost Analysis ◽  
Resource Economics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Environmental Benefit ◽  
Benefit Cost Analysis ◽  
Benefit Cost

The United States and United Kingdom have long-standing traditions in the use of environmental benefit-cost analysis (E-BCA). While there are similarities between how E-BCA is utilized, there are significant differences too, many of which mirror ongoing debates and recent developments in the literature on environmental and natural resource economics. We review the use of E-BCA in both countries across three themes: ( a) the role of long-term discounting, ( b) the estimation and use of carbon valuation, and ( c) the estimation and use of the value of a statistical life. In each case, we discuss how academic developments are (and are not) translated into practical use and draw comparative lessons. We find that, in some cases, practical differences in E-BCA can be overstated, although in others these seem more substantive. Advances in the academic frontier also raise the question of when and how to update practical E-BCA, with very different answers across our themes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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