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Cost-Benefit Analysis
by E. J. Mishan Euston QuahShould 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.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
by Euston Quah E.J. MishanCost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the systematic and analytical process of comparing benefits and costs in evaluating the desirability of a project or programme – often of a social nature. It attempts to answer such questions as whether a proposed project is worthwhile, the optimal scale of a proposed project, and the relevant constraints. CBA is fundamental to government decision making and is established as a formal technique for making informed decisions on the use of society’s scarce resources. This timely 6th edition of the classic Cost-Benefit Analysis text continues to build on the successful approach of previous editions, with lucid explanation of key ideas, simple but effective expository short chapters, and an appendix on various useful statistical and mathematical concepts and derivatives. The book examines important developments in the discipline, with relevant examples and illustrations as well as new and expanded chapters which build upon standard materials on CBA. Highlights include; updated historical background of CBA extended non-market goods valuation methods the impact of uncertainty evaluation of programmes and services behavioural economics decision rules and heuristics CBA and regulatory reforms CBA in developed and developing countries value of household production other topics frequently encountered in CBA, such as costs of diseases and air pollution, and value of statistical life This book is a valuable source and guide to international funding agencies, governments, interested professional economists and senior undergraduate and graduate students. The text is fully supported by a companion website, which includes discussion questions and PowerPoint slides for each chapter.
Cost-Benefit Analysis for Project Appraisal
by Per-Olov Johansson Bengt KriströmWritten by two leading experts, this is a compact guide to the key tools and methods necessary to carry out cost-benefit analysis (CBA). The authors use modern economic tools to obtain general equilibrium cost-benefit rules that can be used to evaluate small projects, as well as large and even mega projects. Intertemporal issues like discounting, the shadow price of capital, and the treatment of risk are covered, and a state-of-the-art summary of available methods for the valuation of unpriced commodities is also included. In addition, the book provides detailed expositions of the marginal cost of public goods (MCPF), the marginal excess burden of taxes (MEB), and second-best evaluation rules, and shows how these concepts are interrelated. The importance of undertaking due diligence in evaluations is highlighted. This is an excellent toolkit for graduate students learning about the principles of CBA, and is a useful guide for government officials and policymakers.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Multi-level Government: The Case of EU Cohesion Policy and of US Federal Investment Policies (Routledge Studies In The Modern World Economy Ser.)
by Alessandro FerraraThis book provides an original framework to assess public investment policies co-financed by Union (Federal) governments. This framework is applied to two important case studies: the EU Cohesion Policy and the US Federal Investment Policies. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Multi-Level Government sheds light on a number of outstanding issues of economic theory by extending the theory of shadow prices, and provides guidance to real-world decision makers. In particular, the following questions are addressed: Under which theoretical circumstances, higher level government intervention in Member States through investment policies is justified? Is there any new welfare economics rationale underpinning interregional equity? What is the relationship between interregional and interpersonal income distribution? How can social exclusion be included in cost-benefit tests? How can higher level government budget funds to investment policies before it bargains programming documents with lower tiers of government by considering also their response function? In these circumstances, how can optimal matching rates be derived assuming binding and non binding budgetary constraints? Can such a theoretical framework be applied for guidance to real-world decision makers? The book will be of interest to policy makers, postgraduate students and researchers in cost-benefit analysis, welfare economics, public choice, public finance, multi-level government economics, and income distribution issues.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Cases and Materials
by Euston Quah Raymond TohCost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the systematic and analytical process of comparing benefits and costs in evaluating the desirability of a project or programme, often of a social nature and for society as a whole. CBA is fundamental to government decision-making and can be an effective tool for informed decisions on the use of society's scarce resources. This book highlights the main concepts and principles of cost-benefit analysis used in real life cases and actual applications. The book contains rich cases, materials and examples of real life CBA applications with emphasis both on physical and non-physical projects and infrastructure developments in Asia and beyond. The book also discusses techniques frequently used in applied CBA. The first part of the book introduces the key concepts and principles of CBA before Part Two covers some pertinent issues relating to CBA, such as the recent trend of using behavioural economics and frequently used techniques in applied CBA. Finally, in Part Three, case studies are written up to illustrate how CBA is done, and questions for the readers and students to ponder are raised at the end of each chapter. The scope of the case studies is more than just physical infrastructures but will include public sector policies and programmes covering a host of social policies as in health, education, social welfare programmes, and the environment. For each case, there will be illustrations of the key concepts and principles of CBA used. Undertakings analyzed include: the Three Gorges Dam in China the 2008 Beijing Olympics the Costs of Global Warming the Jamuna Bridge in Bangladesh The case studies, many of which have taken or are to take place in developing countries provide a rich background to the principles of the method, and are accompanied by a wealth of explanatory material. As well as being suitable for courses in Cost-Benefit Analysis, Public Finance, Environmental and Health Economics, the book should be of interest to all public policy decision makers and planners.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice
by Aidan R. Vining David L. Weimer Anthony E. Boardman David H. GreenbergCost-Benefit Analysis provides accessible, comprehensive, authoritative, and practical treatments of the protocols for assessing the relative efficiency of public policies. Its review of essential concepts from microeconomics, and its sophisticated treatment of important topics with minimal use of mathematics helps students from a variety of backgrounds build solid conceptual foundations. It provides thorough treatments of time discounting, dealing with contingent uncertainty using expected surpluses and option prices, taking account of parameter uncertainties using Monte Carlo simulation and other types of sensitivity analyses, revealed preference approaches, stated preference methods including contingent valuation, and other related methods. Updated to cover contemporary research, this edition is considerably reorganized to aid in student and practitioner understanding, and includes eight new cases to demonstrate the actual practice of cost-benefit analysis. Widely cited, it is recognized as an authoritative source on cost-benefit analysis. Illustrations, exhibits, chapter exercises, and case studies help students master concepts and develop craft skills.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice, Fourth Edition
by Aidan R. Vining David L. Weimer Anthony E. Boardman David H. GreenbergThe fourth edition of Cost-Benefit Analysis is an authoritative, market-leading textbook that provides a practical introduction to cost-benefit analysis through problem solving. The text uses a consistent application of a nine-step framework for interpreting a cost-benefit analysis. This edition has been fully revised, updated and re-organized to provide the material more effectively. It presents application over abstract theory and clear discussion over mathematics to appeal to a larger, more diverse audience. A market-leading text that uses a tested nine-step framework for interpreting a cost-benefit analysis. The authors are all prolific researchers, and their hands-on experience brings an applied foundation to the text. Features a new chapter on predicting and monetizing impacts.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Financial And Economic Appraisal Using Spreadsheets
by Harry F. Campbell Richard P.C. BrownA 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.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Financial and Economic Appraisal Using Spreadsheets
by Harry F. Campbell Richard P.C. BrownNow in its third edition, Cost-Benefit Analysis has been updated, offering readers the perfect introduction to project, programme and policy appraisal using basic tools of financial and economic analysis. The key economic questions of any social cost-benefit analysis are: do the benefits of the project or policy exceed the costs, no matter how widely costs and benefits are spread, and irrespective of whether or not project impacts, such as environmental effects, are reflected in market prices? And which group or groups of individuals receive the benefits and which bear the costs? This book addresses these questions with an emphasis on putting the theory presented in the book into practice. This third edition has several attractive features: Readers are encouraged to develop their own skills by applying the tools and techniques of cost-benefit analysis to case studies and examples, including an analysis of a project which is developed throughout the book. The book emphasizes the use of spreadsheets which are invaluable in providing a framework for the cost-benefit analysis. A dedicated chapter provides guidance for writing up a report which summarises the analysis which has been undertaken. New pedagogical features, including Technical Notes and Examples, have been added as an aid to readers throughout the text. An appendix provides 14 additional case studies which can be developed in class or as assignment projects. Additional material for instructors and students is provided through Support Material maintained by Routledge. This updated edition is an ideal text for a course on cost-benefit analysis where the emphasis is on practical application of principles and equipping students to conduct appraisals. It is also a useful handbook for professionals looking for a logical framework in which to undertake their cost-benefit analysis work.
Cost-Conscious Marketing Research
by Alan R. AndreasenMany small businesses and nonprofit organizations avoid doing marketing research because they have at least five misconceptions about it: the big decision myth; the survey myopia myth; the big bucks myth; the sophisticated researcher myth; and the most research is not read myth.
Cost-Effective Control of Urban Smog: The Significance of the Chicago Cap-and-Trade Approach (Routledge Explorations in Environmental Economics)
by Richard Kosobud Houston Stokes Carol Tallarico Brian ScottContaining rigorous hard evidence, this book is of immense practical use to postgraduates, researchers and business communities affected by or working in environmental regulation. The author, a leading name in the environmental economics community, examines the problem of urban smog in cityscapes and the difficulty of achieving cost-effective controls. Analyzing the key areas of urban smog, low-level ozone and volatile organic compound emissions and their impact on health and welfare of communities this text assesses and evaluates the performance of emissions trading systems and suggests alternative market designs for incentive control of pollution. Taking a well-reasoned approach to the contentious area of the use of market incentives to achieve environmental goals, it provides a study of the pioneering cap-and-trade market, particularly focusing on its poor performance in Chicago. A perfect supplementary text postgraduates and researchers, this is also an essential read for all those interested in environmental economics.
Cost-Effective Graphic Solutions for Small Businesses: The Power of Visual Imaging and Design (Apress Pocket Guides)
by Phillip WhittDelve into learning the strategies for producing impressive graphics without overspending. This all-inclusive manual equips small business proprietors with the knowledge and skills to utilize open source tools, graphics and photo libraries and how to put them to good use. Learn how to tap into a vast collection of premium stock photos from Pexels and Pixabay to elevate your visual content. Additionally, delve into the innovative capabilities of AI technology, transforming the process of graphic design and production. Whether you are an experienced entrepreneur or a novice in the field, this guide serves as your pathway to visually appealing and cost-effective marketing materials. Cost-Effective Image and Graphic Solutions for Small Businesses is your guide to creating impressive and effective graphics that won’t strain your budget. Discover powerful no-cost image editing programs such as Paint.NET, GIMP, and FotoSketcher to incorporate into your visual designs as well as affordable web-based solutions for creating marketing materials such as business cards, posters, flyers, social media posts, and more. There are even tips for saving on large-format visuals, and graphics for company vehicles. You Will Learn To: Enhance your professional visual identity for your business Utilize programs such as Paint.NET to touch up photos, and create business cards, flyers, and other graphic materials Use GIMP as an alternative to Adobe Photoshop for photo editing and raster illustrations Turn photographic images into art with the easy-to-use FotoSketcher Make scalable vector graphics using Inkscape Navigate royalty free stock photo libraries and archives available for both personal and commercial use Explore web-based solutions for creating professional-looking marketing materials such as business cards, postcards, flyers, and social media posts Utilise AI to generate compelling images, idea and content Who is This For: This book is for any small business owner, manager or graphics designer requiring the means to create quality graphics and visuals on a tight budget
Cost-Engineering-System in den produzierenden Unternehmen: Methoden, Prozesse und Erfahrungsberichte aus der Praxis
by Xiaoyi LiuFunktion, Qualität und Kosten sind die drei Kernelemente eines Produkts. Vor allem in der Zukunft, unter dem allgemeinen Trend der Digitalisierung und AI, ist es für produzierende Unternehmen ein Muss, ein vollständiges Cost-Engineering-System zu etablieren.Basierend auf 25 Jahren praktischer Erfahrung und Methodenforschung in deutschen und chinesischen Automobilunternehmen stellt der Autor in diesem Buch zum ersten Mal Cost- Engineering-System, Cost-Engineering-Methoden und deren praktische Anwendungen im gesamten Produktprozess systematisch vor, und präsentiert eine große Anzahl von Beispielen der Kostenoptimierung aus Praxis. Blickt man in die Zukunft, wie der Qualitätssystemstandard benötigt auch das Cost-Engineering- System einen Standard für Produktionsunternehmen. Kostenanalysesoftware, AI + Cost Engineering sind wichtige Mitteln für produzierende Unternehmen, um das Potenzial der Kostenoptimierung im vollen Umfang und in intelligenter Weise auszuschöpfen.
Cost-Justifying Usability: An Update for an Internet Age
by Randolph G. Bias Deborah J. MayhewYou just know that an improvement of the user interface will reap rewards, but how do you justify the expense and the labor and the time-guarantee a robust ROI!-ahead of time? How do you decide how much of an investment should be funded? And what is the best way to sell usability to others? In this completely revised and new edition, Randolph G. Bias (University of Texas at Austin, with 25 years' experience as a usability practitioner and manager) and Deborah J. Mayhew (internationally recognized usability consultant and author of two other seminal books including The Usability Engineering Lifecycle) tackle these and many other problems. It has been updated to cover cost-justifying usability for Web sites and intranets, for the complex applications we have today, and for a host of products-offering techniques, examples, and cases that are unavailable elsewhere. No matter what type of product you build, whether or not you are a cost-benefit expert or a born salesperson, this book has the tools that will enable you to cost-justify the appropriate usability investment. 66
Cost-benefit Analysis: With Reference to Environment and Ecology
by James H. Meisel K. PuttaswamaiahThe world is increasingly concerned with bridging the developmental gap between the developed and developing countries. With the establishment of a number of institutions for funding the projects including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and many other agencies, the need to develop mechanisms to assess economically viable projects is more important than ever. The Social-Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) is an important technique used in formulating, appraising, and evaluating projects. It is a facet of applied welfare economics which is increasingly being used to identify and assess public projects in both developing and developed countries. This volume presents a comprehensive view of cost-benefit analysis in its theoretical and applied dimensions. Both theory and case studies are presented. The theoretical setting for Cost-Benefit Analysis is established by the first five chapters-"Spatial General Equilibrium and Cost-Benefit Analysis," by David M. Newbery; "Optimum Growth Theory and Social Time Preference: A Computerized Mathematical Modeling Exercise to Choose a Social Discount Rate," by Sardar M. N. Islam; "A Theoretical Inquiry of the Axiomatic Consistency of Distributional Weights used in Cost-Benefit Analysis," by Giuseppe Munda; "The Output Gap: Measurement, Related Concepts, and Policy Implications," by Parameswar Nandakumar; and "A Methodological Comparison of Theoretical Approaches in Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation," by John C. Whitehead. This book will be useful as a reference text by professors and students in project appraisal classes and will be of equal value to analysts, planners, and interested general readers.
Cost-of-Capital in Managerial Finance: An Examination of Practices in the German Real Economy Sector (Contributions to Management Science)
by Dennis SchlegelThis book examines cost-of-capital models and their application in the context of managerial finance. This includes the use of hurdle rates in capital allocation decisions, as well as target returns in performance management. Besides a review of classical finance models such as the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), other contemporary models and techniques to determine the cost-of-capital of business units and private companies are discussed. Based on a mixed methods approach, current cost-of-capital practices and their determinants are empirically analyzed among German companies.
Costa Rica After Coffee: The Co-op Era in History and Memory
by Lowell GudmundsonCosta Rica After Coffee explores the political, social, and economic place occupied by the coffee industry in contemporary Costa Rican history. In this follow-up to the 1986 classic Costa Rica Before Coffee, Lowell Gudmundson delves deeply into archival sources, alongside the individual histories of key coffee-growing families, to explore the development of the co-op movement, the rise of the gourmet coffee market, and the societal transformations Costa Rica has undergone as a result of the coffee industry’s powerful presence in the country.While Costa Rican coffee farmers and co-ops experienced a golden age in the 1970s and 1980s, the emergence and expansion of a gourmet coffee market in the 1990s drastically reduced harvest volumes. Meanwhile, urbanization and improved education among the Costa Rican population threatened the continuance of family coffee farms, because of the lack of both farmland and a successor generation of farmers. As the last few decades have seen a rise in tourism and other industries within the country, agricultural exports like coffee have ceased to occupy the same crucial space in the Costa Rican economy. Gudmundson argues that the fulfillment of promises of reform from the co-op era had the paradoxical effect of challenging the endurance of the coffee industry.
Costa Rica: 2001 Article IV Consultation--Staff Report; Staff Statement; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Costa Rica
by International Monetary FundA report from the International Monetary Fund.
Costa Rica: Selected Issues (Imf Staff Country Reports)
by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.A report from the International Monetary Fund.
Costco Companies, Inc.
by David E. Bell Ann LeamonCostco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual fee ($100 vs. $40). The case poses two questions: 1) how should the new membership be marketed, to whom, and how much should be spent on the effort? and 2) what are the potential risks and benefits for Costco, which generated $22 billion in 1997 selling products in bulk, in offering services? Which question is emphasized depends on whether the case is taught in a marketing or a retailing course.
Costing Alternative Choices
by Jacob Cohen David F. HawkinsDiscusses the role of differential cost and revenues in solving alternative choice problems.
Costly Bargain of Trade Promotion
by John A. Quelch Walter J. Salmon Robert D. BuzzellOver the last decade, power in the retailing of packaged goods has shifted from manufacturers to wholesalers and sellers. One result has been an increase in consumer and trade promotion. But many trade promotion practices are costly to manufacturers, retailers, and eventually consumers. The authors single out forward buying in the grocery trade and offer evidence of the costs of this practice to the distribution system as a whole. They suggest a policy called "everyday low purchase price", designed to smooth the peaks and valleys of demand and reduce the costs of distribution.
Costly Fix: Power, Politics, And Nature In The Tar Sands
by Ian UrquhartCostly Fix examines the post-1995 Alberta tar sands boom, detailing how the state inflated the profitability of the tar sands and turned a blind eye to environmental issues. It considers the position of First Nations, the character and strength of environmental critiques, and the difficulties that environmental groups and First Nations have had in establishing a countermovement to market fundamentalism. The final chapter discusses how Alberta's new NDP government, in its first couple of years, has addressed the legacies they have inherited from the previous Progressive Conservative government on climate change, royalties, and the blight of tailings ponds in the boreal forest. Throughout the book, Urquhart demonstrates that too many actors have done too little to prevent Alberta's boreal forest from becoming a landscape sacrificed for unsustainable economic growth.
Costovation: Innovation That Gives Your Customers Exactly What They Want--And Nothing More
by Stephen Wunker Jennifer Luo LawWow your customers . . . with "less." Cut costs-it's a common corporate refrain. But if you constantly slash expenditures, what happens to innovation? How can you stay competitive and satisfy customers? Costovation solves the dilemma of how to spend less and innovate more. The book's revolutionary approach broadens the definition of innovation beyond products to the business model itself. With costovation, you let go of assumptions, take a fresh look at the market, and relentlessly focus on what customers really want. Consider Planet Fitness-it grew to 7.3 million members by concentrating on casual exercisers. Those folks don't care about frills. They want easy, low-cost access to good equipment. Although it's inexpensive to run, Planet Fitness ranks highest in gym satisfaction. Gourmet grocer, Picard, sells only frozen food. With less perishable inventory, they compress costs while delighting a discerning but busy clientele. Packed with examples and interactive exercises, the book explores cost innovation strategies that work for big and small companies alike. From open innovation and cost-sharing to simplifying products and turning waste into new offerings-readers learn how rivals are carving out niches, protecting positions, and dominating industries. Innovation and cost-cutting are not opposites. Combined, they expose untapped opportunities to outsmart and underspend competitors.
Costs and Benefits: Why We Need to Study Bad Leadership
by Barbara KellermanMost books that examine leadership do so from the perspective that true leaders are good and ethical leaders, with little or no attention paid to bad leaders. With the costs of bad leadership being so high, ignoring its existence, and allowing it to continue, is a disservice to everyone involved. And focusing on leaders and shortchanging the role of followers, when the two should be looked at in tandem, only makes matters worse.