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Theory of Regulatory Benefits Assessment: Econometric and Expressed Preference Approaches

  • Chapter
Benefits Assessment

Part of the book series: Technology, Risk, and Society ((RISKGOSO,volume 1))

Abstract

The preceding Chapter 4 has outlined a general framework and a sequence of steps for conducting a benefits assessment. These are summarized below together with several important policy questions that must be confronted in any benefits assessment for a major regulation:

  1. 1.

    Define the scope of the assessment. What benefits (what effects of what regulation on which stakeholders) are to be assessed? What empirical assumptions and technical specifications are to be made?

  2. 2.

    Identify and describe policy alternatives to the option being assessed. What attributes should be used in describing and assessing the potential consequences of each alternative?

  3. 3.

    For each alternative, identify the probable resulting welfare changes for each stakeholder group. Should benefits to each stakeholder group be defined subjectively in terms of the preferences and perceptions of its members, or objectively in terms of measurable changes in physical and economic variables?

  4. 4.

    Aggregate the probable welfare consequences to each stakeholder group to obtain a measure of the net social benefit from each alternative. How should benefits to each group be aggregated over time and in the presence of uncertainties? What risk attitude should be taken?

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Authors
  1. Louis Anthony Cox Jr.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Judith D. Bentkover

  2. National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., USA

    Vincent T. Covello

  3. State University of New York, Albany, USA

    Jeryl Mumpower

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© 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company.

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Cox, L.A. (1986). Theory of Regulatory Benefits Assessment: Econometric and Expressed Preference Approaches. In: Bentkover, J.D., Covello, V.T., Mumpower, J. (eds) Benefits Assessment. Technology, Risk, and Society, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4524-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4524-1_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8515-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4524-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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