Description
Book SynopsisCost-Benefit Analysis presents an authoritative collection of the most important published articles in the field together with an extensive new introduction by the editors. Whilst focusing on the practical side, looking at applications such as education, transportation and the value of life and health, this important volume also emphasises the essential role of economic theory, with sections on the economic costs of public funds, foreign exchange and labour. The result is an influential selection based on robust and fundamental theoretical propositions -- ones that are readily suitable for everyday applications.
This timely volume provides a comprehensive synthesis of the current state of the theory and application of cost-benefit analysis. It draws from a wide range of journals to include the key articles which are the benchmarks in the development of the field. It will be invaluable to academics and practitioners alike.
Trade Review’Edward Elgar has recruited the two most significant names in the business of cost-benefit analysis to edit this compilation of essential papers on the subject. My teaching and research will both be easier with this volume on my shelf, as I’ll always have the right papers at my fingertips on the theory of social discounting in open and closed economies, the marginal cost of public funds, the cost of foreign exchange, and applications related to the environment, education, health, and transportation.’ -- Don Fullerton, University of Texas, Austin and National Bureau of Economic Research, US
Table of ContentsContents: Acknowledgements Introduction Arnold C. Harberger and Glenn P. Jenkins PART I THEORETICAL ISSUES A Discount Rate for Investment Projects 1. Stephen A. Marglin (1963), ‘The Social Rate of Discount and the Optimal Rate of Investment’ 2. Larry A. Sjaastad and Daniel L. Wisecarver (1977), ‘The Social Cost of Public Finance’ 3. Agnar Sandmo and Jacques H. Drèze (1971), ‘Discount Rates for Public Investment in Closed and Open Economies’ B Economic Cost of Public Funds 4. Edgar K. Browning (1976), ‘The Marginal Cost of Public Funds’ 5. Charles L. Ballard, John B. Shoven and John Whalley (1985), ‘General Equilibrium Computations of the Marginal Welfare Costs of Taxes in the United States’ C Economic Cost of Foreign Exchange 6. Bela Balassa (1974), ‘Estimating the Shadow Price of Foreign Exchange in Project Appraisal’ 7. Charles Blitzer, Partha Dasgupta and Joseph Stiglitz (1981), ‘Project Appraisal and Foreign Exchange Constraints’ 8. George Fane (1991), ‘The Social Opportunity Cost of Foreign Exchange: A Partial Defence of Harberger et al’ 9. Glenn P. Jenkins and Chun-Yan Kuo (1985), ‘On Measuring the Social Opportunity Cost of Foreign Exchange’ D Economic Cost of Labor 10. Raaj Kumar Sah and Joseph E. Stiglitz (1985), ‘The Social Cost of Labor and Project Evaluation: A General Approach’ 11. Alejandra Cox Edwards (1989), ‘Labor Supply Price, Market Wage, and the Social Opportunity Cost of Labor’ 12. Robin Boadway and Frank Flatters (1981), ‘The Efficiency Basis for Regional Employment Policy’ E Risk Analysis of Investment Projects 13. Kenneth J. Arrow and Robert C. Lind (1970), ‘Uncertainty and the Evaluation of Public Investment Decisions’ 14. Savvakis Savvides (1994), ‘Risk Analysis in Investment Appraisal’ 15. K.G. Balcombe and L.E.D. Smith (1999), ‘Refining the Use of Monte Carlo Techniques for Risk Analysis in Project Planning’ PART II APPLICATIONS A Contingent Valuation: Methodology and Applications 16. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1993), ‘Appendix I – Report of the NOAA Panel on Contingent Valuation’, excerpt from ‘Natural Resource Damage Assessments Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990’ 17. W. Michael Hanemann (1994), ‘Valuing the Environment Through Contingent Valuation’ 18. Peter A. Diamond and Jerry A. Hausman (1994), ‘Contingent Valuation: Is Some Number Better than No Number?’ 19. Richard T. Carson and Robert Cameron Mitchell (1993), ‘The Value of Clean Water: The Public’s Willingness to Pay for Boatable, Fishable, and Swimmable Quality Water’ 20. Dale Whittington, Donald T. Lauria and Xinming Mu (1991), ‘A Study of Water Vending and Willingness to Pay for Water in Onitsha, Nigeria’ 21. Lisa C. Chase, David R. Lee, William D. Schulze and Deborah J. Anderson (1998), ‘Ecotourism Demand and Differential Pricing of National Park Access in Costa Rica’ B Education 22. George Psacharopoulos (1994), ‘Returns to Investment in Education: A Global Update’ 23. Pedro Belli, Qaiser Khan and George Psacharopoulos (1999), ‘Assessing a Higher Education Project: A Mauritius Feasibility Study’ 24. Nancy Birdsall (1996), ‘Public Spending on Higher Education in Developing Countries: Too Much or Too Little?’ C Value of Life and Health 25. W. Kip Viscusi (1993), ‘The Value of Risks to Life and Health’ 26. A.M. Garber, M.C. Weinstein, G.W. Torrance and M.S. Kamlet (1996), ‘Theoretical Foundations of Cost-effectiveness Analysis’ 27. Jeffrey S. Hammer (1993), ‘The Economics of Malaria Control’ 28. Ramesh Adhikari, Paul Gertler and Anneli Lagman (1999), ‘Economic Analysis of Health Sector Projects – A Review of Issues, Methods, and Approaches’ D Transportation 29. Arnold C. Harberger (1972), ‘Cost–Benefit Analysis of Transportation Projects’ 30. John Kay, Alan Manning and Stefan Szymanski (1989), ‘The Economic Benefits of the Channel Tunnel’ and ‘Discussion’ 31. John F. Kain (1997), ‘Cost-effective Alternatives to Atlanta’s Rail Rapid Transit System’ E Assessing Stakeholder Impacts 32. Glenn P. Jenkins (1999), ‘Evaluation of Stakeholder Impacts in Cost–benefit Analysis’ Name Index
