Cost-Benefit Analysis

PART I 
Scope and method
 
1  Brief historical background to cost-benefit analysis
2  What is cost-benefit analysis?
3  Framework to cost-benefit analysis

PART II 
Basic concepts of benefits and costs 

4  Measurements of consumer surplus 
5  Consumer surplus when several prices change 
6  Consumer surplus when other things change 
7  Introduction to the compensating variation 
8  Measurements of rent 
9  Is producer surplus a rent? 

PART III 
Shadow prices and transfer payments
 
10  Introductory remarks 
11  Opportunity cost of labour 
12  Opportunity cost of unemployed labour 
13  The additional benefits of using unemployed labour 
14  The opportunity costs of imports 
15  Transfer payments and double counting 

PART IV 
External effects
 
16  Introduction to external effects 
17  Adverse spillovers 
18  Internalizing externalities 
19  Evaluating spillovers 
20  Compensating for environmental damage 

PART V 
Investment criteria
 
21  Introduction to investment criteria 
22  Crude investment criteria 
23  The discounted present value criterion 
24  The internal rate of return 
25  The alleged superiority of the discounted present value criterion compared with the internal rate of return criterion and the net benefit ratio 
26  Investment criteria in an ideal capital market 
27  Calculation of rates of return and of time preference 
28  Critique of the discounted present value criterion (I) 
29  Critique of the discounted present value criterion (II) 
30  The normalized compounded terminal value criterion (I) 
31  The normalized compounded terminal value criterion (II) 
32  The Pareto criterion and generational time
33  Cost-benefit analysis, weights and normative economics  
  
PART VI 
Uncertainty
 
34  Risk and certainty equivalence 
35  Decision rules and heuristics (I) 
36  Decision rules and heuristics (II) 
37  How practical are decision rules and heuristics?
38  Simple probability in decision making 
39  Mixed strategies in decision making 
40  Four additional strategems for coping with uncertainty 

PART VII 
Topics frequently encountered in Cost-Benefit Analysis

41  Valuation issues and methods
42  Benefit transfers
43  Pair-wise comparison
44  Cost-benefit analysis and behavioural economics
45  Cost-benefit analysis in developing countries
46  The value of time
47  Measuring the benefits of recreational areas
48  Travel cost method
49  Cost-benefit analysis and public health
50  The value of statistical life
51  Estimating the economic cost of air pollution on health
52  Economic cost of diseases
53  Cost-benefit analysis and the problem of locating environmentally noxious facilities (NIMBYs) – an informal discussion 

PART VIII
Further notes and advanced materials 
  
54  Cost-benefit analysis and the economist
Appendix 1: Cost-effectiveness analysis 
Appendix 2: The alleged contradiction of the Kaldor–Hicks criterion 
Appendix 3: The problem of second–best 
Appendix 4: Origins of the Hicksian measures of consumer surplus 
Appendix 5: Marginal curve measures of consumer surplus 
Appendix 6: The concept and measure of rent 
Appendix 7: Marginal curve measures of rent 
Appendix 8: The limited applicability of property rights 
Appendix 9: Deadweight loss or love’s labour lost  
Appendix 10: The value of human life
Appendix 11: The rate of time preference 
Appendix 12: Selecting a set of investment projects for given political objectives
Appendix 13: Why cost-benefit analysis is useful for regulatory reform
Appendix 14: Valuing household production

Biography

E.J. Mishan was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, UK, from 1956 to 1977.

Euston Quah is Albert Winsemius Chair Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

'Cost benefit analysis is as important as ever in assessing projects, whether in private business, transportation, health and agriculture, or urban and regional planning. This book will be of great use to students, economists, business people and government planners. A welcome new edition from the maestro, Euston Quah, and a tribute to his late coauthor, Ezra Mishan'. - W. Brian Arthur, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, USA.

'In this 6th edition of his classic treatise, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Professor Euston Quah provides an up-to-date rendering of the fundamental concepts that constitute the foundation of this important analytical tool, as well as the essential empirical methods, ranging from the basics of discounting to the latest methods of valuing externalities. This book can function as a comprehensive text in an appropriate college course, and as a key reference for practitioners. As such, it belongs on the shelf of scholars, policy analysts, and policy makers'. - Professor Robert N. Stavins, A. J. Meyer Professor of Energy and Economic Development at Harvard University, USA. 
 
'Building on the earlier eminent work with E.J. Mishan, the sixth newly updated edition of Euston Quah’s continues to improve what has been referred to as a classic work in Cost Benefit analysis. It is a very important book for both practitioners and academics.  I strongly recommend it as a reference book for all of us interested in public policy'. - Richard L. Sandor, Aaron Director Lecturer at Ronald Coase and Richard Sandor Institute of Law and Economics of the University of Chicago, USA. 
 
'This timely 6th edition builds on the success of previous editions. The key economic tools are lucidly explained and the new themes explored. The case studies are up-to-date and cover a wide range of potential applications. It will be an indispensable source and guide to government and international agencies as well as to students and professional economists'. - Professor Cheng Hsiao, Former Editor of the Journal of Econometrics and Professor of Economics at University of Southern California, USA. 
 
'Increasingly, calculations of gains and losses if made for communities and societies have to take into account a contextualized and scale-sensitive economic order. This 6th updated edition offers an excellent guide by integrating investment criteria, uncertainty and frequently encountered issues in the actual use of CBA while examining the continued validity of key concepts, the limitations of the criteria used and the consistency of techniques. It is highly recommended to everyone making informed decisions when resources are scarce'. - Professor Helga Nowotny, Former President of the European Research Council. 
 
As a text, Mishan and Quah’s Cost-Benefit Analysis shows the intuition of how to use economics as it instructs how to do CBA. As a reference, from the first edition it has been within easy reach of my desk'. - Professor Jack L. Knetsch, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University, Canada. 
 
'Cost-Benefit analysis is the most well known word in economics. However, it is not deeply understood what and how to measure and what kind of conditions the analysis be applied. The analysis can be used in many different projects not only to public and private projects but also to our daily lives. Economists often discuss the cost-benefits, however engineers and medical doctors have to pay attention to cost-benefit analysis results. Otherwise, various policies which may incur huge costs would be proposed and cost of burden to the general public may be very high in the future. This book explains very simply the essence of cost-benefit analysis and its applications in many different areas. The book is recommended not only to students in economics and business, but also to a general audience who wish to understand public decision-making. This book will help you think and make better decisions in your daily life'. - Professor Naoyuki Yoshino, Dean/CEO of Asian Development Bank Institute, Japan, and Professor Emeritus of Economics at Keio University, Japan.

Cost-Benefit Analyses have seen a revival during the last years. This book is a must-have for all researchers and policy-makers interested in taking measures to solve important problems like global climate change, avoiding a digital divide, making people behave more sustainably etc. Every measure comes along with costs and benefits. This book gives theoretical background and practical advice on how to assess and counterbalance them in order to make the resource use highly efficient'. - Professor Renate Schubert, Professor of Economics and Associate Vice President of ETH Zurich, Switzerland.