Basic Cost Benefit Analysis for Assessing Local Public Projects

Barry P. Keating, Maryann O. Keating

ISBN 10: 1631578812 / ISBN 13: 9781631578816

Published by Business Expert Press, US, 2017

Cost benefit analysis is often expected or required for government projects. On the state and local level, the technique is useful for assessing the worthiness of a specific policy proposal. The accounting and analysis of large scale technical projects require specialized training; in this manual, we offer a non-theoretical introduction to CBA, accessible to readers without an advanced statistical or economic background. The book is designed as a how-to primer in the basics of CBA for local officials who actually evaluate proposals or merely interpret reports using cost benefit analysis. A Reference List is provided for further study. Seller Inventory # LU-9781631578816

Synopsis:

The cost benefit technique is so often referenced in government policy that a correct understanding is necessary for officials entrusted with public decisions. This book presents essential elements for understanding, interpreting, and conducting cost benefit analysis (CBA) in the context of local government. If you're charged with preparing numerical analyses to assess the worthiness of a specific policy proposal, you'll need this book to understand how costs and benefits are identified and analyzed in terms of economic efficiency and resource allocation. CBA is rooted in and has little or no value apart from the economic concepts of cost and resource efficiency. This book is designed to teach the correct use and interpretation of cost benefit analysis, while advising you of CBA's limitations and pitfalls. Case studies, presented in the final chapters of this book, represent typical proposals confronted by local officials. The book also includes instructions for using computer spreadsheets to build basic cost benefit models and an appendix on the step-by-step process of discounting future costs and benefits.

About the Authors: Barry P. Keating, PhD, is professor of economics and finance at the University of Notre Dame. He is a Heritage Foundation Fellow, a Heartland Institute Fellow, and an advisor of both the Indiana Policy Review Group and the Institute of Business Forecasting. He is the co-author of many successful books including Regression Analysis, Business Expert Press, 2016.

Maryann O. Keating, PhD, holds degrees from the Universities of Pennsylvania, Texas, and Notre Dame. She held a Fulbright at the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara and worked as a regional economist with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington. She has taught at several universities, and is a fellow of the Indiana Policy Review.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Basic Cost Benefit Analysis for Assessing ...
Publisher: Business Expert Press, US
Publication Date: 2017
Binding: Paperback
Condition: New
Edition: Second Edition.