Abstract
Benefit-cost analysis is a technique for assessing the economic utility of a public investment project. The technique can be used to indicate whether a specific expenditure should be undertaken. It can also be used to determine the appropriate scale of investment and thus the optimum size of a specific investment project, as well as the product-mix, capital intensity, and other aspects of project design. A benefit-cost approach can also be employed as the framework for a general theory of government investment. In this chapter emphasis will be placed on benefit-cost as a decision technique, although some attention is also directed to benefit-cost as investment theory.
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© 1971 Jesse Burkhead and Jerry Miner
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Burkhead, J., Miner, J. (1971). Benefit-Cost Analysis. In: Public Expenditure. Aldine Treatises in Modern Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01372-2_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-01372-2_7
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