The core aim of the Benefit-Cost Analysis Center is to improve the understanding and use of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) as a decision-making tool. Our research and outreach is geared toward:
Improving and standardizing benefit-cost analysis methodology,
Strengthening relationships between institutions that use it,
Diseminating information about its use and misuse, and
Expanding its use when appropriate.
This involves working with a variety of government agencies and academic professionals whose work involves benefit-cost analysis. We accomplish this through:
Benefit-cost (or cost-benefit) analysis (or BCA) aims to inform the decision-making process with specific types of information, namely measures in monetary terms of willingness to pay for a change by those who will benefit from it, and the willingness to accept the change by those who will lose from it.
The use of monetary terms provides a common metric. Its purpose is not to price everything, but rather to order choices in a way that is informative about social choices for decision makers.
The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis is an international
organization dedicated to the advancement, encouragement, and exchange
of ideas, research, and other activities related to:
Benefit-Cost analysis (BCA),
Cost-effectiveness analysis,
Risk-benefit analysis,
Applied welfare economic analysis, and
Damage assessments.
This includes the intersection with other disciplines such as economics, law, engineering, policy, decision sciences and the natural sciences.
The Society has adopted the following primary goals:
Bring together individuals from diverse disciplines and from different countries and provide them opportunities to foster collaboration and exchange information, ideas and methodologies related to the practice and theory of benefit-cost analysis and applied welfare economics;
Encourage applications of benefit-cost and applied welfare analysis, and promote dialogue between practitioners and others who are interested in benefit-cost analysis;
Facilitate the development and dissemination of knowledge about benefit-cost and applied welfare analysis methods and their applications;
Develop and update standards of practice for benefit-cost and applied welfare analysis.
Foster methods to improve communication and consideration of benefit-cost methods and results.
Become a member of the society by submitting a membership form (99 KB PDF).
The central purpose of the Benefit-Cost Analysis Center is to disseminate information to those working in government agencies and academic institutions who use benefit-cost analysis (BCA) methodology.
Our conferences play an important role in this, and help us in reaching our goal to start a national conversation on standards to follow in applying benefit-cost analysis (BCA) as a decision-making tool.
Advancing Social Policy-Making Through Benefit-Cost Analysis: Challenges and Opportunities
June 24-25, Washington, D.C.
Examined the role of benefit-cost analysis in social policymaking
Highlighted the new opportunities presented by recent uses of benefit-cost analysis in social arenas
The conference also aimed to develop strategies for making benefit-cost analysis more practical, consistent, and implementable within the social policy fields.
Leading scholars, practitioners, lawyers, and policymakers
shared ideas about the implementation of benefit-cost analysis
techniques and procedures. Conference participants also offered advice
on how improve the quality of social benefit-cost analysis and increase
the usage of it in regard to social programs at all levels of
government.
The conference presented the following panels, highlighting recent successes of integration between benefit-cost analysis and social policymaking with an emphasis on identifying transferable lessons. The conference also focused on identifying research
strategies that will make benefit-cost analysis more practical and
useable in future social policymaking.
NOTE: Not all panelists used powerpoint presentations, or have made their presentations available.
The Use of Evidence-Based Research on Children’s Outcomes to Promote Economic Competitiveness: The Case of the Partnership for America's Economic Success describeed how partnership-supported research about the rates of return for specific child development strategies has been used to establish new ways to justify investments in children.
Greg Duncan, Edwina S. Tarry Professor, School of Education and Social Policy, and Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University. CBA of Economic Investments in Early Childhood(363 KB PDF)
Lessons from Government Experience with Benefit-Cost Analysis: USA and the EU discussed the extent to which benefit-cost analysis improves decision-making, and explored how such use can be fashioned to have greater impact with respect to the analysis of federal social programs.
Panel Chair: John Graham, Dean, Pardee RAND Graduate School of Public Policy and Dean-Designate, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University.
Using Benefit-Cost Analysis in the State and Local Government: Case Study of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP)and the City of Seattle had senior staff members of WSIPP and Seattle Public Utilities sharing their experiences and thoughts on whether benefit-cost analysis effectively contributes to state level decision-making.
Integrated Administrative Data Systems: Generating Benefits and Costs in Real Time Over Time examined how integrated administrative data enables measurement of investments and returns across agency boundaries, leading to a transformation in social policy.
Panel Chair: Dennis Culhane, Professor of Social Welfare Policy, School of Social Policy and Practice; and Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. The New York-New York Supportive Housing Demonstration(170 KB PDF)
Richard Burgis, Manager, Database Area Supporting DHS/CSES, Department of Information Technology, State of Michigan. Michigan's Statewide Data Warehouse (4.14 MB PDF)
Key Factors Enabling Rigorous Research to Influence Policy: Lessons from Welfare, Education, and Other Areas discussed concrete examples in which rigorous research findings – including benefit-cost results – have had a meaningful impact on policy decisions, and instances when they did not. The goal was to identify key ingredients that make for successful impact.
Robert Shea, Associate Director for OMB Administration and Government Performance, U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center for Children and Families, Brookings Institution. Who Cares about Random Assignment? (416 KB PDF)
Robert Slavin, Director, Center for Research and Reform in Education, The Johns Hopkins University; Director, Institute for Effective Education, University of York; and Co-Founder and Chairman, Success for All Foundation. Evidence-Based Reform in Education: Promise and Pitfalls (1.82 MB PDF)
Missing Shadow Prices from Benefit-Cost Analyses of Social Programs examined how analysis of social programs can be improved by giving attention to shadow prices.
Panel Chair: Dave Weimer, Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science, LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin
Robert Haveman, John Bascom Emeritus Professor, LaFollette School of Public Affairs and Department of Economics, and Faculty Affiliate, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin. Shadow Prices in Evaluating Social Programs (136 KB PDF)
V. Kerry Smith, W.P. Carey Professor of Economics, Arizona State University
Philip Cook, ITT/Terry Sanford Professor of Public Policy Studies, Professor of Economics and Sociology, and Associate Director, Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University. Valuing Crime-related impacts: the basics (80 KB PDF)
Issues in the Development of Principles and Standards for Conducting Social Benefit-Cost Analysis addressed areas and process for development, historical experience, templates, and values for analysis in developing principles and standards in the field of benefit-cost analysis.
Arnold Harberger, Distinguished Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles
Lynn Karoly, Senior Economist, RAND Corporation
Lester Lave, Professor of Economics, Carnegie Mellon University
David Weimer, Professor of Public Affairs and Political Science, LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin. CBA Standards: Declaring Right or Daylight? (101 KB PDF)
Where:The Liaison Capitol Hill, An Affinia Hotel, 415 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. Rooms will be held until May 30 for a special meeting rate of $289 plus tax. Parking will be available for $34/day. Reserve your hotel and parking reservations at 202.638.1616.
Conference and membership registration fees:
Conference registration for current members: $75
Conference registration for nonmembers: $100
Membership for Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis: $75
Conference Registration and Membership Package: $125
Meeting Agenda
Day 1: Wednesday, June 25
Registration and Check-In: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Lunch with keynote speech "The Power of Measuring Social Benefits" by Jonathan Fanton, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, : 12:45-1:45 p.m.
Panel 1 – States, Localities, and Benefit-Cost Analysis: 2:30 – 3:45 p.m. Panel Chair: Ken Acks of the Cost Benefit Group
Regulatory Regime Change under Federalism: Do States Matter More? by W. Gray of Clark University and R. Shadbegian of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
The Net Social Benefit of Transforming Six Public Housing Projects into Mixed-Income Communities by T. Boston of Georgia Institute of Technology and L. Boston of EuQuant
A Retrospective Assessment of the Pittsburgh Midfield Airport Expansion by J. Sturgis of Carnegie Mellon University
Variations on a Theme: Benefit-Cost Analysis and Environmental Regulation in Pennsylvania by W. Delavan of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Panel 2 – Uncertainty and Risk: 4:00-5:15 p.m. Panel Chair: Scott Farrow of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
How to Integrate Risk Assessment and Benefit-Cost Analysis by A. Jessup, C. Nardinelli, D. Mancini, and L. Bush of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Early Identification and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease: Desirable Social and Fiscal Outcomes by D. Weimer and M. Sager of the University of Wisconsin
The Importance of Uncertainty in a Benefit-Cost Analysis of Flood Proofing Policy Decisions for Adaptation to Sea-level Rise by M. Schultz of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and P. Fischbeck, and M. Small of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Carnegie Mellon University
Homeland Security Benefit-Cost Analysis: Small Steps Forward, Giant Leaps To Go by E. Shapiro of Rutgers University
Reception and Open-Poster Session: 5:30-6:30 p.m.
The Costs and Benefits of a Green Mixed-Use Brownfield Redevelopment Project in New York by K. Acks of the Cost Benefit Group
The Fatal Flaw of Benefit-Cost Analysis: The Problem of Person-Altering Consequences by G. Cresip of Southern Methodist University
Benefit-Cost Analysis in Foreign Direct Investment: Trends, Limitations, and Prospects by N. Dasgupta of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Random Error and Simulation Models with an Unobserved Dependent Variable as Applied to the Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act by S. Farrow of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County
A Full Cost Analysis of Using Backup Generators to Meet Peak Electricity Demand by E. Gilmore, P. Adams, and L. Lave of Carnegie Mellon University
Riparian Buffers and Hedonic Prices: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of Residential Property Values in the Neuse River Basin by O. Gin, C. Landry, and G. Meyer of East Carolina University
Different Measures of the Value of Changes in Risks: The Reference State Matters by J. Knetsch of Simon Fraser University
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Mercury Control Technologies for Virginia by V. Satyal of the Virgina Department of Environmental Quality
Mapping Environmental Preferences for Ambiguous Natural Resources by S. Vajjhala, A. John, and D. Evans of Resources for the Future and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The Relevance of the Scitovsky Paradox by A. Schmitz of the University of Florida
Getting the Sulpher out of Gasoline: Costs and Benefits by G. Jenkins of Queen's University
Dinner on your own
Day 2: Thursday, June 26
Continental Breakfast: 7:30-8:00 a.m.
Panel 3 – Federal Practice: 8:00-9:15 a.m. Panel Chair: Betsy Cody of the Congressional Research Service
Benefit-Cost Analysis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by S. Grosse of the Centers for Disease Control
Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Performance of Homeland Security Spending by J. Ghez of the RAND Corporation
Agency Capabilities and Performance in Applying Benefit-Cost Analysis by R. Belzer of the Regulatory Checkbook
The Influence of Economists in the Federal health, Safety and Environmental Agencies by R. Williams of George Mason University
Panel 4 – International Issues and Applications: 9:30-10:45 a.m. Panel Char: Jack Knetsch of Simon Fraser University
Potential Practices for Integrating International Impacts into Regulatory Impact Analyses by D. Mancini of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
Socioeconomic and Financial Evaluation of Infrastructure and Transport Projects with Environmental Impacts by C. Leon, M. Ruiz, and M. Romero of the University of Las Palmas
Cost-Effectiveness Methods and Practice in Education: A Critical Review of Program Evaluation in Developing Countries by M. Pirog, K. Krutilla, T. Guzman, and C. Dew of Indiana University
Benefit-Cost Analysis and International Collective Action: The Case of Climate Change by D. Cole of Indiana University
Panel 5 – Time, Mortality, and Quality of Life: 11:00a.m.-12:15p.m. Panel Chair: TBD
Incorporating Nonmarket Time Into Benefit-Cost Analyses of Social Programs by D. Greenberg of the University of Maryland, and P. Robins of the University of Miami
Changing Profiles: Lags and the Social Rate of Time Preference by Topic by K. Patora of the Washington State Department of Ecology
Should Agencies Value Mortality Risk Reductions Differently Depending on the Context? by L. Robinson
Valuation of Quality of Life Losses Associated with Nonfatal Injury: Insights from Jury Verdict Data by D. Aiken and W. Zamula of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Buffet Lunch and Society Meeting: 12:15-1:45 p.m.
Panel 6 – Methods Pushing Boundaries: 1:45-3:00 p.m. Panel Chair: David Weimer of the University of Wisconsin
Policy Establishment Costs: The Normative Implications for Benefit-Cost Analysis by K. Krutilla of Indiana University
Environmental Decisions without Benefit-Cost Analysis: A Ranking-Based Alternative by J. Horowtiz and J. Quiggin of the University of Maryland-College Park
The Irrelevance of the Compensation Test by R. Zerbe of the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington
Using Benefit Cost Analysis to Assess Nonprofit Performance by J. Cordes and C. Coventry of George Washington University
The Welfare Economics of Sharing Fixed Costs of Product Safety Regulation, Presentation (1,007 KB PDF) by Richard Just; presented by Richard Just
The Information Industry, Distant Use Value and the Exxon Valdez, Presentation (235 KB PDF) by R. Scott Farrow and Douglas M. Larson; presented by Scott Farrow
Cost-Effective Species Conservation, Presentation (768 KB PDF) by Mark Plummer
Note: The links provided mainly connect to sources outside the Center's website, either to webpages or directly to .pdf or .doc files. Approximate sizes of PDF files have been included. Depending on your browser settings, the files may open in your browser or automatically begin downloading.
Richard O. Zerbe
Benefit-Cost Analysis Center
Evans School of Public Affairs
University of Washington
Box 353055
Room 226 Parrington Hall
Seattle, WA 98195-3055, USA Phone: 206-616-5470 Email: zerbe@u.washington.edu