Happiness-Based Policy Analysis

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dolan ◽  
Daniel Fujiwara
Keyword(s):  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Nonmarket Goods ◽  
Over Time

Happiness data have an important role in policy. They can be used to monitor social progress over time in the same way that GDP figures are currently used. They can also be used in the subjective well-being valuation (SWV) approach to value nonmarket goods for the purposes of cost-benefit analysis, the primary policy evaluation tool in many governments. This chapter focuses on the latter of these two uses of happiness surveys, where a significant literature has grown over the last decade. It discusses the main problems associated with traditional valuation methods that rely on people’s preferences and the ways in which it has been suggested that SWV can overcome some of these difficulties. SWV also has its problems, and the chapter discusses these, provides suggestions for how results from SWV should be interpreted, and highlights where solutions to the problems in the SWV method have been proposed in the literature.

scholarly journals Well-Being and Public Policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Bronsteen ◽  
Christopher Buccafusco ◽  
Jonathan Masur
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Laws And Policies

Governments rely on certain basic metrics and tools to analyze prospective laws and policies and to monitor how well their countries are doing. In the United States, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the primary tool for analyzing prospective policies, especially with respect to administrative regulations. Similarly, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is perhaps the most prominent metric for monitoring a country's progress. In recent years, one of the most important developments in social science has been the emergence of psychological research measuring subjective well-being (SWB) or ‘happiness’. This article first explains the way in which SWB is measured and how those measurements have been validated. It then discusses well-being analysis (WBA), which uses happiness data to analyze prospective policies more accurately than does CBA. Next, it covers the ways in which SWB data have been used to generate prices that can be used by traditional economic analysis. This is followed by a discussion of attempts to revise CBA to deal with the limitations stemming from the fact that it uses wealth to assess the effects of policy on quality of life. Finally, the article lays out the progress made towards creating an SWB-based alternative to GDP.

Age 21 Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur J. Reynolds ◽  
Judy A. Temple ◽  
Dylan L. Robertson ◽  
Emily A. Mann
Keyword(s):  
Title I ◽  
Remedial Education ◽  
Program Effectiveness ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
School Age ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Benefit Analysis

We conducted the first cost-benefit analysis of a federally financed, comprehensive early childhood program. The Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers are located in public schools and provide educational and family support services to low-income children from ages 3 to 9. Using data from a cohort of 1,539 program and comparison-group children born in 1980 who participate in the Chicago Longitudinal Study, measures of program participation were significantly associated with greater school achievement, higher rates of high school completion, and with significantly lower rates of remedial education services, juvenile delinquency, and child maltreatment. Economic analyses indicated that the measured and projected economic benefits of preschool participation, school-age participation, and extended program participation exceeded costs. In present-value 1998 dollars, the preschool program provided a return to society of $7.14 per dollar invested by increasing economic well-being and tax revenues, and by reducing public expenditures for remedial education, criminal justice treatment, and crime victims. The extended intervention program (4 to 6 years of participation) provided a return to society of $6.11 per dollar invested while the school-age program yielded a return of $1.66 per dollar invested. Findings demonstrate that an established public program can provide benefits that far exceed costs. Key elements of CPC program effectiveness include an instructional focus on literacy, opportunities for intensive parent involvement, and implementation by well-trained staff within a single administrative system.

scholarly journals SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE TRAINING FOR CUSTODIAL GRANDMOTHER-ADOLESCENT GRANDCHILDREN DYADS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S357-S357
Author(s):  
Britney A Webster ◽  
Greg Smith ◽  
Frank Infurna
Keyword(s):  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Social Competencies ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Abstract Custodial grandmothers (CGMs) and adolescent custodial grandchildren (ACG) face risk of poorer social skills and competencies due to early life adversities which have downstream negative consequences for mental and physical health. We describe an RCT examining the efficacy of an online social intelligence intervention (SII) at improving the emotional, interpersonal, and physical well-being of CGM-ACG dyads through mutual enhancement of their social competencies. Our SII is particularly valuable for these dyads because it enhances their social competencies and relationships, thereby leading to positive outcomes. Additionally, adolescence is a critical period for developing social competencies, largely through interactions with female caregivers. Our longitudinal mixed-methods approach addresses four aims: (1) Investigating if SII improves social competencies and overall well-being through both actor and partner effects; (2) Exploring moderators of SII efficacy; (3) Studying qualitatively how dyads view SII as changing their lives; and (4) Conducting a SII cost-benefit analysis. [Funded by R01AG054571]

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Social Welfare Functions

2019 ◽  
pp. 397-422
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Important Policy ◽  
The Social

This chapter describes and compares the two most important policy-analysis methodologies in economics: cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the social-welfare-function (SWF) framework. Both approaches are consequentialist and welfarist; both are typically combined with a preference-based view of well-being. Despite these similarities, the two methodologies differ in significant ways. CBA translates well-being impacts into monetary equivalents, and ranks outcomes according to the sum total of monetary equivalents. By contrast, the SWF framework relies upon an interpersonally comparable measure of well-being. Each possible outcome is mapped onto a list (vector) of these well-being numbers, one for each person in the population; the ranking of outcomes, then, is driven by some rule (the SWF) for ranking these well-being vectors. The utilitarian SWF and the prioritarian family of SWFs (each corresponding to well-developed positions in moral philosophy) are especially plausible. The case for using CBA rather than one of these SWFs is weak—or so the chapter argues.

Behavioral Economics, Happiness Surveys, and Public Policy

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 196-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
System 1 ◽  
Limiting Case ◽  
Rational Preferences ◽  
Recent Policy

Two important developments in recent policy analysis are behavioral economics and subjective-well-being (SWB) surveys. What is the connection between them? Some have suggested that behavioral economics strengthens the case for SWB surveys as a central policy tool, e.g., in the form of SWB-based cost-benefit analysis. This article reaches a different conclusion. Behavioral economics shows that individuals in their day-to-day, “System 1” behavior are not expected utility (EU-) rational – that they often fail to comply with the norms of rationality set forth by EU theory. Consider now that the standard preference-based view of individual well-being looks to individuals’ rational preferences. If the findings of behavioral economics are correct, an individual’s answer to a question such as “How satisfied are you with your life?” is not going to tell us much about her rational (EU-compliant) preferences. Behavioral economics, by highlighting widespread failures of EU rationality, might actually argue for an objective-good (non-preference-based) view of well-being. However (except in the limiting case of an objective-good view positing a single mentalistic good, happiness), SWB surveys will not be strong evidence of well-being in the objective-good sense. In short, SWB surveys are no “magic cure” for the genuine difficulties in inferring rational preferences and measuring well-being underscored by behavioral economics.

scholarly journals Economic analysis of ecosystem based adaptation and engineering options: A case study from Udayapur, Nepal

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
Dinesh Chandra Devkota ◽  
Kamal Thapa ◽  
Bhaskar Kharki
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Economic Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
High Benefit ◽  
Adaptation Options

Ecosystem services are vital to our well-being as they directly or indirectly support our survival and quality of life. But, the growing impact of climate change diminishes the benefit from ecosystem services. Therefore, identifying possible applicable adaptation options are inevitable to reduce the effect of climate change. The present research is based on a case study of Ksedi River watershed, Ajgada Village in Udaypur district of Nepal. The study demonstrates the comparison between different options to deal with flood and make a sound decision, based on economic rationale for long-term benefits. The present study compares ecosystem based adaptation options with engineering options using cost benefit analysis in order to protect village from flooding. Through stakeholder and expert consultations, ecosystem based adaptation options and economic options that are feasible in the village and catchment to mitigate the floods were listed. Economic analysis of these options and the different combinations were done using cost benefit analysis. Analysis was carried out for each of the different combination of options. Focus on ecosystem based adaptation options provide high benefit to cost return in terms of avoided damages and considering engineering options efficient in flood and erosion control in initial stage in spite of its high cost. The study suggests that reforestation in upland forest areas; plantation along riverbed and management of rangeland should be prioritized. Similarly, preparation of flood model, flood height damage curve and flood vulnerable maps specific to the site will help decision makers to implement site specific adaptation options.

A Partial Review of Seven Official Guidelines for Cost-Benefit Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Abelson
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Social Discount Rate ◽  
Protection Agency ◽  
The Social ◽  
Benefit Cost ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThis paper reviews seven contemporary official guidelines to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) with respect to eight major cost-benefit issues drawing on the latest edition of the major CBA textbook for guidance, although not complete authority. The guidelines are those by UK Treasury, European Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New Zealand Treasury, Infrastructure Australia, NSW State Treasury, and Victorian State Department of Treasury and Finance. The eight major issues discussed are the issue of standing, core valuation principles, the scope of CBA with reference to potential additional economic benefits, changes in real values over time, the marginal excess tax burden, the social discount rate, use of benefit-cost ratios, and treatment of risk. While all the guidelines are quality guides to CBA, the paper finds that there is room for improved discussion and practice at various points in each of these guidelines.

Cost-Benefit Analysis as an Expression of Liberal Neutrality

2020 ◽  
pp. 187-253
Author(s):  
Joseph Heath
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Policy Evaluation ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Public Philosophy ◽  
Steady Creep ◽  
Liberal Neutrality ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past

The past few decades have seen an expansion in the use of cost-benefit analysis as a tool for policy evaluation in the public sector. This slow, steady creep has been a source of consternation to many philosophers and political theorists, who are inclined to view cost-benefit analysis as simply a variant of utilitarianism and consider utilitarianism to be completely unacceptable as a public philosophy. The chapter shows that this impression is misleading. When construed narrowly, cost-benefit analysis does look a lot like utilitarianism. However, when it is seen in its broader context, in the way that it is applied, and the types of problem to which it is applied, it is better understood as an attempt by the state to avoid taking sides with respect to various controversial conceptions of the good.

PREFERENCE SATISFACTION AND WELFARE ECONOMICS

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Hausman ◽  
Michael S. McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Welfare Economics ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Philosophical Theory ◽  
Turn On ◽  
Good For

The tenuous claims of cost-benefit analysis to guide policy so as to promote welfare turn on measuring welfare by preference satisfaction and taking willingness-to-pay to indicate preferences. Yet it is obvious that people's preferences are not always self-interested and that false beliefs may lead people to prefer what is worse for them even when people are self-interested. So welfare is not preference satisfaction, and hence it appears that cost-benefit analysis and welfare economics in general rely on a mistaken theory of well-being. This essay explores the difficulties, criticizes standard defences of welfare economics, and then offers a new partial defence that maintains that welfare economics is independent of any philosophical theory of well-being. Welfare economics requires nothing more than anevidentialconnection between preference and welfare: in circumstances in which people are concerned with their own interests and reasonably good judges of what will serve their interests, their preferences will be reliable indicators of what is good for them.

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