American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Benefit-Cost in a Benevolent Society
American Economic Review
vol. 96,
no. 1, March 2006
(pp. 339–351)
Abstract
How should benefit-cost analysis account for the value that benevolent individuals place on others' enjoyment of public goods? When adding up the benefits to be compared with costs, should we sum the private valuations, the altruistic valuations, or something else? This paper argues that private valuations are appropriate if concern for the well-being of others respects their private preferences. The discussion has implications for family decision-making, welfare economics, and the design of applied contingent valuation studies.Citation
Bergstrom, Theodore, C. 2006. "Benefit-Cost in a Benevolent Society." American Economic Review, 96 (1): 339–351. DOI: 10.1257/000282806776157623JEL Classification
- D61 Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement