A social cost-benefit analysis of a proposed publicly funded project, or public policy change, may be commissioned by a municipal, state or federal government, by a government aid agency, or by an international. Proponents of a private project which has significant social impacts may also commission an economic analysis of this type. The key economic questions of any social cost-benefit analysis are: do the benefits of the project exceed the costs, no matter how widely costs and benefits are spread? And which group or groups of individuals benefit and which bear the costs? This book addresses these questions with an emphasis on putting the theory into practice. The book has several unique features: readers are encouraged to develop their own skills by applying the tools and techniques of cost-benefit analysis to case studies including a project which is developed through the book; the use of spreadsheets is emphasised which is invaluable in allowing readers to test variables and cross-check the accuracy of their economic appraisal; and a dedicated chapter provides guidance on writing up a report which completes the analysis. An appendix lists additional case studies which can be developed in class or as additional projects. Each chapter contains exercises and suggestions for further reading. This book is an ideal text for a course on cost-benefit analysis where the emphasis is on practical applications and teaching students to conduct their own analysis. The book's companion website can be found at: http://uq.edu.au/economics/sites/bca/.

Choice is the name of the game. Government sets the size of the public budget and decides which public projects it will invest in and which transfers and regulations it will implement. To do this systematically the government must have a procedure that displays the consequences of the alternatives. This book is an exposition of benefit-cost analysis (BCA), an analytic framework for organizing thoughts, listing the pros and cons of alternatives, and determining values for all relevant factors so that the alternatives can be ranked. A major question illuminated by this text is whether the results of such an analysis can instruct government--in the sense of telling it what it must do to avoid being labelled stupid, corrupt, irrational, and/or inefficient. How and when, we will ask, can the benefit-cost analyst label a particular governmental investment, policy, or regulation as political (in the pejorative sense) as opposed to economic (in the laudatory sense of being economically justified)? This book will argue that BCA is much like a consumer information system. Consumer information neither tells consumers what to do nor tells them what they should want. However, it does tell them which products will perform in selected ways and at what costs. And this information, together with the independently arrived at wants, helps the consumer make intelligent choices.

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.

Should Malaysia build a new steel mill, or New York City an urban motorway? Should higher education expand, or water supplies be improved? These are typical questions to which cost-benefit analysis, the key economic tool for analyzing problems of social choice can contribute to, as well as providing a useful vehicle for understanding the practical value of welfare economics. This invaluable text covers the main problems that arise in a typical cost-benefit exercise. Cost-benefit analysis is used everywhere, but its techniques are particularly prominent in fields where there is some kind of ethical dimension. For this edition, E.J. Mishan has been joined by Euston Quah, to explore new themes, including the impact of uncertainty on cost-benefit analysis and to introduce a host of new and up-to-date case studies.