The Globalization of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Environmental Policy

Cost-benefit analysis -- the formal estimating and weighing of the costs and benefits of policy alternatives -- is a standard tool for governments in advanced economies. Through decades of research and innovation, institutions have developed in the United States, European Union, and other developed countries that examine and weigh policy alternatives as an aid to governmental decisionmaking. Lawmakers in the advanced economies have used cost-benefit analysis to evaluate core environmental and public health questions, such as urban air pollution control, water quality, and occupational safety. Yet despite its broad adoption in the industrialized world, most developing and emerging countries have not yet incorporated cost-benefit analysis into their policymaking process. Because these countries face significant limitations on financial resources and have less ability to shoulder inefficient rules, it is extremely important for their officials to determine which policies maximize net benefits for their societies. The Globalization of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Environmental Policy examines how cost-benefit analysis can help developing and emerging countries confront the next generation of environmental and public-health challenges. Analysis in the book examines the growing reach of cost-benefit analysis; presents relevant case studies where cost-benefit analysis has been incorporated in the Americas, Africa, Middle East, and Asia; and includes a discussion on the conceptual and institutional issues that must be addressed when adopting cost-benefit analysis in developing and emerging countries. In part because governments in developing and emerging countries have not extensively used cost-benefit analysis, there has been only limited research and discussion of the practice and its potential. Most work that has been done is on the domestic or regional level, and has not been widely shared or distributed within the international academic or policy community. By providing both theoretical and practical discussion of this important new tool, this book makes a valuable contribution to the fields of environmental policy, development studies, and environmental law.

Auteur

Michael Livermore is Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Integrity, and an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Law. Richard Revesz is Dean and Lawrence King Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. He is the author or co-author numerous books, including Environmental Law, the Economy and Sustainable Development, Environmental Law and Policy. Together they are the authors of Retaking Rationality: How Cost-Benefit Analysis Can Better Protect the Environment and Our Health.

Contenu

Part I: Introduction Foreword 1. Cost-Benefit Analysis Goes Global Michael A. Livermore, A.J. Glusman, and Gonzalo Moyano Part II: Valuation Issues 2. Cost-Benefit Analysis in Developing Countries: What's Different Euston Quah 3. The Benefit-Transfer Approach Lisa A. Robinson, and James K. Hammitt 4. Putting a Price on the Future of Our Children and Grandchildren Maria Damon, Kristina Mohlin, and Thomas Sterner 5. The Shape of Distributional Analysis Michael A. Livermore and Jennifer S. Rosenberg Part III: Institutional Matters 6. Changing Faces of Cost-Benefit Analysis: Alternative Institutional Settings and Varied Social and Political Contexts Jiunn-rong Yeh 7. Is There a Role for Cost-Benefit Analysis Beyond the Nation-State? Lessons from International Regulatory Cooperation Alberto Alemanno 8. The Diffusion of Regulatory Oversight Jonathan B. Wiener 9. The Role of the OECD in Capacity Building for Public Governance: Insights from the MENA-OECD Working Group on Regulatory Reform Miriam Allam Part IV: Case Studies in Pollution Control 10. Environmental Fuel Quality Improvements in Mexico: A Case Study of the Role of Cost-Benefit Analysis in the Decisionmaking Process Leonora Rojas-Bracho, Verónica Garibay-Bravo, Gretchen A. Stevens, and Georgina Echániz-Pellicer 11. Healthcare Costs of Urban Air Pollutions in South Africa Anthony Leiman 12. Economic Costs of Air Pollution in Singapore Euston Quah, and Wai-Mun Chia 13. The Challenges of Estimating Compliance Costs in Developing Countries: Experiences from Brazil Emilio Lébre La Rovere, Martha Macedo de Lima Barata, and Amaro Olimpio Pereira Jr Part V: Case Studies in Protection of Natural Resource 14. Improving Cost-Benefit Analysis in the Assessment of Infrastructure Projects in the Brazilian Amazon Marcos Amend, Leonardo Fleck, and John Reid 15. A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Resettlement Policy in Southeast Asia Orapan Nabangchang 16. Cost-Beneft Analysis of Water Management Initiatives in China: A Case of Small, Multi-Purpose Reservoirs Shahbaz Mushtaq 17. Cost-Benefit Analysis of Water Projects in India Pawan Labhasetwar 18. The Role of Distributional Analysis in Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Case Study of Hydroelectric Projects in Panama Sarah Cordero 19. Assessing Potential Carbon Revenues from Reduced Forest Cover Loss in Liberia Jessica Donovan, Keith Lawrence, Christopher Neyor, Eduard Niesten, and Eric Werker Part VI: Paths Forward 20. Challenges and Opportunities Michael A. Livermore