Governments, corporations, and nonprofit agencies regularly embark on large projects and programs that require significant sums of money and have major impacts, both positive and negative. Since the funds used to execute these projects are limited, the stakeholders of the organizations that pursue such projects need justification that the funds are being used effectively and deserve funding more than competing projects. Cost-benefit analysis is a set of techniques for assessing the benefits and costs of a project and measuring its worthiness. The text presents the fundamentals of cost-benefit analysis, with particular emphasis on aiding readers of cost-benefit analysis reports to better understand the rationale behind the tables, graphs, and conclusions that appear in those reports, as well as to be able to critically assess the impact of the assumptions being made. The main challenge of any cost-benefit study is how to measure the costs and benefits in monetary units. We address methods typically used for assessment of both direct and indirect effects of projects, as well as both economic and non-economic impacts. Two other key challenges in a cost-benefit study are timing and uncertainty. A dollar of benefits in several years is generally not viewed as sufficient return for incurring a dollar of cost today. To measure the net impact of a project, future costs and benefits need to be adjusted in order to be compared to current costs. Discount rates are a common tool for making these adjustments in cost-benefit analysis and are addressed here. While costs and benefits can be quantified, they remain estimates and are likely to be in error due to future uncertainty. A good cost-benefit analysis will explicitly consider the potential for, and possible consequences of, uncertainty. Cost-benefit analysis is often applied in public sector decisions where there are proponents and opponents. As such, cost-benefit analyses generally become part of a politically-charged dialogue and are viewed by advocates as either an ally to be touted or an adversary to be discredited. We discuss the interaction between cost-benefit analysis and politics. A main thesis of this book is that these political processes can be improved if those involved have a good understanding of the strengths and limitations of cost-benefit analysis.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been continuously undertaking measures to enhance the effectiveness of its operations. To improve projects both at the preparation and implementation stages, ADB issued the Guidelines for Economic Analysis of Projects in 1997 as a means to enhancing project quality at entry. The conduct of proper economic analysis helps ensure the efficient use of development funds and public resources and thereby increase aid effectiveness. This practical guide is a supplement to the Guidelines for the Economic Analysis of Projects. It provides an overview of recent methodological developments in cost-benefit analysis as well as suggested improvements in the economic analysis of projects in selected sectors through case studies. These case studies illustrate the application of suggested methodologies, taking into account sector-specific needs, as well as difficulties faced by practitioners in terms of data and time constraints during project processing. It also aims to contribute to ADB’s capacity building initiatives as this will be the main reference material for conduct of economic analysis.

Textbook on the theory and methodology of cost benefit analysis - covers criteria for decision making, shadow pricing, discount rate, etc. Bibliography pp. 175 to 177, graphs and statistical tables.

This thoroughly updated second edition incorporates key ideas and discussions on issues such as wider economic impacts, the treatment of risk, and the importance of institutional arrangements in ensuring the correct use of technique. Ginés de Rus considers whether public decisions, such as investing in high-speed rail links, privatizing a public enterprise or protecting a natural area, may improve social welfare.

Drawing on the principles of welfare economics and public finance, this second edition of Cost-Benefit Analysis: Theory and Application provides the theoretical foundation for a general framework within which costs and benefits are identified and assessed from a societal perspective. With a thorough coverage of cost-benefit concepts and their underlying theory, the volumecarries the reader through the steps of a typical evaluation process, including the identification, measurement, and comparison of costs and benefits, and project selection. Topics include alternative measures of welfare change, such as the concepts of consumer surplus and compensating and equivalent variation measures, shadow pricing, nonmarket valuation techniques of contingent valuation and discrete choice experiment, perspectives on what constitutes a theoretically acceptable discount rate, the social rate of time preference, income distribution, and much more. The book also focuses on real-world applications of cost-benefit analysis in two closely related areas—environment and health care—followed by an examination of the current state of the art in cost-benefit analysis as practiced by international agencies.