Principles and Standards
One of the Benefit-Cost Analysis Center's main projects is to help establish principles and standards for the use of benefit-cost analysis, particularly with respect to social programming. The Center has commissioned papers from leaders in various fields, with the goal of establishing preliminary principles and standards both for benefit-cost analysis broadly, and for specific program areas.
The Principles and Standards project is funded through The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Report
Draft Papers
Below are the papers specifically associated with the Principles and Standards project. These papers are also linked on the Benefit-Cost Analysis Papers section of our website. The papers are still under the review process and may be subject to revision. Comments are welcomed. Because these papers are still in the draft stage, please contact the author(s) before citing, and cite the papers only as draft papers to preserve the integrity of the scholarly contribution and author's copyright.
- Reconciling Alternative Views About the Appropriate Social Discount Rate by David F. Burgess
- Principles and Standards for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Public Health Preparedness and Pandemic Mitigation Programs by Joseph H. Cook
- Principles and Standards for the Benefit-Cost Analysis of Public Safety by R. Scott Farrow and W. Kip Viscusi
- Principles and Standards for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Early Childhood Interventions by Lynn A. Karoly
- General Equilibrium Benefit Analyses for Social Programs by H. Allen Klaiber and V. Kerry Smith
- Principles and Standards for the Benefit-Cost Analysis of Crime by John R. Lott, Jr.
- Importance of Incorporating Distributional Issues in Benefit-Cost Analysis by John B. Loomis
- Behavioral Economics and Benefit-Cost Analysis by Lisa A. Robinson and James K. Hammitt
- An Assessment of Important Issues Concerning the Application of Benefit-Cost Analysis to Social Policy by Aidan R. Vining and David L. Weimer
- An Ethical Foundation for Benefit-Cost Analysis by Richard O. Zerbe, Jr.