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Social cost-benefit analysis in Australia and New Zealand
The state of current practice and what needs to be done
Authored by: Leo Dobes
, George Argyrous , Joanne LeungPlease read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
Description
All is not well with the evaluation of government programs and projects.
Resources available to any society are limited. If governments are to increase the well-being of their citizens, they must be able to select and implement the socially most beneficial projects and policies.
But many government agencies lack the expertise to carry out a cost-benefit analysis, or even to commission one. Commercial consultants, on the other hand, often have some analytical expertise, but are not immune from adopting approaches that accommodate the proclivities of their client agencies.
In order to increase analytical rigour and methodological consistency, this publication urges the adoption of a ‘belts and braces’ set of protocols for use in project evaluation.
Details
- ISBN (print):
- 9781760460198
- ISBN (online):
- 9781760460204
- Publication date:
- Apr 2016
- Imprint:
- ANU Press
- DOI:
- http://doi.org/10.22459/SCBAANZ.04.2016
- Series:
- Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
- Co-publisher:
- The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
- Disciplines:
- Business & Economics; Social Sciences: Politics & International Studies, Social Policy & Administration
- Countries:
- Australia; Pacific: New Zealand
PDF Chapters
Social cost-benefit analysis in Australia and New Zealand »
Please read Conditions of use before downloading the formats.
- Preliminary Pages (PDF, 204KB)
- Foreword (PDF, 81KB)
- Acknowledgements (PDF, 65KB)
- Acronyms and abbreviations (PDF, 88KB)
- Tables and figures (PDF, 63KB)
- Introduction (PDF, 142KB)
- Professional perspectives on harmonisation and cost‑benefit analysis in Australia and New Zealand (PDF, 240KB)
- Potential approaches to harmonisation (PDF, 265KB)
- A framework approach to harmonisation (PDF, 267KB)
- What not to do: A ‘belts and braces’ enhancement of harmonisation (PDF, 313KB)
- Conclusions and recommendations (PDF, 171KB)
- Appendix 1: Sources of information (PDF, 84KB)
- Appendix 2: Multi‑criteria analysis (PDF, 163KB)
- Appendix 3: Wider economic impacts in the transport sector (PDF, 159KB)
- Appendix 4: Social discount rates (PDF, 172KB)
- Appendix 5: Greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon price (PDF, 159KB)
- Appendix 6: Uncertainty, risk and sensitivity (PDF, 178KB)
- Appendix 7: Deadweight economic loss caused by raising revenue for projects and programs (PDF, 200KB)
- References (PDF, 138KB)
Reviews
‘The book does a service to improving resource allocation in Australia and New Zealand by publicising some worrying problems in the way CBAs are undertaken and used, and makes sensible recommendations to improve the situation.’
–Mark Harvey, Economic Record, March 2019.
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