scholarly journals A brief reply to Ernest Albuquerque

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Pickford

Mr Albuquerque challenges my article in Policy Quarterly (Volume 9, Issue 3, 2013) on three main grounds. Firstly, he uses the well-known limitations of standard cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in transport project appraisals as the basis for claiming that the ‘strategic fit’ and ‘effectiveness’ criteria adopted by the NZTA lead to a better estimation of the total economic impact of the proposed activity than using the ‘efficiency’ criterion alone. He implies that these criteria attempt to capture the impact of large transport schemes on long-term land use development and on induced traffic effects. However, he does not substantiate this claim, and it is unclear how use of these criteria could achieve that goal. 

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-23
Author(s):  
K. Dutta Roy ◽  
B. Thakur ◽  
T. S. Konar ◽  
S. N. Chakrabarty

Abstract. Water supply management to the peri-urban areas of the developing world is a complex task due to migration, infrastructure and paucity of fund. A cost-benefit methodology particularly suitable for the peri-urban areas has been developed for the city of Kolkata, India. The costs are estimated based on a neural network estimate. The water quality of the area is estimated from samples and a water quality index has been prepared. A questionnaire survey in the area has been conducted for relevant information like income, awareness and willingness to pay for safe drinking water. A factor analysis has been conducted for distinguishing the important factors of the survey and subsequent multiple regressions have been conducted for finding the relationships for the willingness to pay. A system dynamics model has been conducted to estimate the trend of increase of willingness to pay with the urbanizations in the peri-urban areas. A cost benefit analysis with the impact of time value of money has been executed. The risk and uncertainty of the project is investigated by Monte Carlos simulation and tornado diagrams. It has been found that the projects that are normally rejected in standard cost benefit analysis would be accepted if the impacts of urbanizations in the peri-urban areas are considered.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-249
Author(s):  
K. Dutta Roy ◽  
B. Thakur ◽  
T. S. Konar ◽  
S. N. Chakrabarty

Abstract. Water supply management to the peri-urban areas of the developing world is a complex task due to migration, infrastructure, paucity of fund etc. A cost-benefit methodology particularly suitable for the peri-urban areas has been developed for the city of Kolkata, India. The costs are estimated based on a neural network estimate. The water quality of the area is estimated from samples and a water quality index has been prepared. A questionnaire survey in the area has been conducted for relevant information like income, awareness and willingness to pay for safe drinking water. A factor analysis has been conducted for distinguishing the important factors of the survey and subsequent multiple regressions have been conducted for finding the relationships for the willingness to pay. A system dynamics model has been conducted to estimate the trend of increase of willingness to pay with the urbanizations in the peri-urban areas. A cost benefit analysis with the impact of time value of money has been executed. The risk and uncertainty of the project is investigated by Monte Carlos simulation and tornado diagrams. It has been found that the projects that are normally rejected in standard cost benefit analysis would be accepted if the impacts of urbanizations in the peri-urban areas are considered.


Author(s):  
Genís Majoral ◽  
Francesc Gasparín ◽  
Sergi Saurí

The number of e-commerce transactions is increasing worldwide. Deliveries of goods purchased online generate externalities throughout the whole supply chain and, particularly, the increasing concern about the last-mile distribution of goods. The escalating presence of vans in cities contributes to poor air quality, climate change, noise, and congestion. So far, the majority of solutions to address this issue are based on the supply side, such as electric vans, optimizing the routing and pick-up-points, and so forth. Even in other transport sectors, pricing solutions are well known, yet they have not been extended to e-commerce delivery. This paper aims to propose an environmental tax falling on the demand side and equaling the externalities from this activity. The analysis has been particularized for the case of Barcelona. A cost–benefit analysis to assess the impact of such a tax has been carried out. When revenue collection is reinvested in the logistics sector, and for subsidizing electric distribution vehicles, the results indicate that the levying of the tax can generate positive outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e004292
Author(s):  
Jung Ho Kim ◽  
Jiyeon Suh ◽  
Woon Ji Lee ◽  
Heun Choi ◽  
Jong-Dae Kim ◽  
...  

BackgroundRapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are widely used for diagnosing Plasmodium vivax malaria, especially in resource-limited countries. However, the impact of RDTs on P. vivax malaria incidence and national medical costs has not been evaluated. We assessed the impact of RDT implementation on P. vivax malaria incidence and overall medical expenditures in South Korea and performed a cost–benefit analysis from the payer’s perspective.MethodsWe developed a dynamic compartmental model for P. vivax malaria transmission in South Korea using delay differential equations. Long latency and seasonality were incorporated into the model, which was calibrated to civilian malaria incidences during 2014–2018. We then estimated averted malaria cases and total medical costs from two diagnostic scenarios: microscopy only and both microscopy and RDTs. Medical costs were extracted based on data from a hospital in an at-risk area for P. vivax malaria and were validated using Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data. We conducted a cost–benefit analysis of RDTs using the incremental benefit:cost ratio (IBCR) considering only medical costs and performed a probabilistic sensitivity analysis to reflect the uncertainties of model parameters, costs and benefits.ResultsThe results showed that 55.3% of new P. vivax malaria cases were averted, and $696 214 in medical costs was saved over 10 years after RDT introduction. The estimated IBCR was 2.5, indicating that RDT implementation was beneficial, compared with microscopy alone. The IBCR was sensitive to the diagnosis time reduction, infectious period and short latency period, and provided beneficial results in a benefit over $10.6 or RDT cost under $39.7.ConclusionsThe model simulation suggested that RDTs could significantly reduce P. vivax malaria incidence and medical costs. Moreover, cost–benefit analysis demonstrated that the introduction of RDTs was beneficial over microscopy alone. These results support the need for widespread adoption of RDTs.


2013 ◽  
Vol 216 ◽  
pp. 02-24
Author(s):  
PAULUS KURNIAWAN ◽  
KEMBAR SRI BUDHI ◽  
SUYANA UTAMA ◽  
MAHAENDRA YASA

massive, advanced and integrated railroad system for coal transportation (referred to hereafter as ?Project?) from Muara Enim, Sumatra Selatan Province to the new coal port at Pulau Baai, Bengkulu Province, Indonesia is developed by a private investor together with the local government (PEMDA) of Bengkulu Province to make the best use of abundant coal resources in the region. This paper analyzes the impact of this Project on the Bengkulu economy, which is currently considered low. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is adopted as the economic indicator. The study combines the theories of export base and economic base, economic and regional developments, cost-benefit analysis and economic impact study with the empirical data. The results show the Project?s financial feasibility with Cost-Benefit Ratio of 1.61, Internal Rate of Return of 21.1% and Payback Period of 5 years, which will provide a significant contribution to the Bengkulu GDP growth and a decrease of 821,600 people among the unemployed.


Author(s):  
Venkata R. Duddu ◽  
Srinivas S. Pulugurtha ◽  
Praveena Penmetsa

State agencies, regional agencies, cities, towns, and local municipalities design and maintain transportation systems for the benefit of users by improving mobility, reducing travel time, and enhancing safety. Cost–benefit analysis based on travel time savings and the value of reliability helps these agencies in prioritizing transportation projects or when evaluating transportation alternatives. This paper illustrates the use of monetary values of travel time savings and travel time reliability, computed for the state of North Carolina, to help assess the impact of transportation projects or alternatives. The results obtained indicate that, based on the illustration of the effect and impact of various transportation projects or alternatives, both improved travel time and reliability on roads yield significant monetary benefits. However, from cost–benefit analysis, it is observed that greater benefits can be achieved through improved reliability compared with benefits from a decrease in travel time for a given section of road.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cass R. Sunstein

AbstractIn 2014, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized its rear visibility regulation, which requires cameras in all new vehicles, with the goal of allowing drivers to see what is behind them and thus reducing backover accidents. In 2018, the Trump administration embraced the regulation. The rear visibility rule raises numerous puzzles. First, Congress’ grant of authority was essentially standardless – perhaps the most open-ended in all of federal regulatory law. Second, it is not easy to identify a market failure to justify the regulation. Third, the monetized costs of the regulation greatly exceeded the monetized benefits, and yet on welfare grounds, the regulation can plausibly be counted as a significant success. Rearview cameras produce a set of benefits that are hard to quantify, including increased ease of driving, and those benefits might have been made a part of “breakeven analysis,” accompanying standard cost-benefit analysis. In addition, rearview cameras significantly improve the experience of driving, and it is plausible to think that in deciding whether to demand them, many vehicle purchasers did not sufficiently anticipate that improvement. This is a problem of limited foresight; rearview cameras are “experience goods.” A survey conducted in 2019 strongly supports this proposition, finding that about 56 % of consumers would demand at least $300 to buy a car without a rearview camera, and that fewer than 6 % would demand $50 or less. Almost all of that 6 % consists of people who do not own a car with a rearview camera. (The per-person cost is usually under $50.) These conclusions have general implications for other domains in which regulation has the potential to improve social welfare, even if it fails standard cost-benefit analysis; the defining category involves situations in which people lack experience with a good whose provision might have highly beneficial welfare effects.


2015 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 308-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emile Tompa ◽  
Roman Dolinschi ◽  
Hasanat Alamgir ◽  
Anna Sarnocinska-Hart ◽  
Jaime Guzman

Author(s):  
Waincymer Jeffrey

This chapter considers the question of whether an arbitrator may also adopt a mediation function or whether the dual roles are antithetical. It tests that hypothesis by engaging in a cost-benefit analysis of differing scenarios when mediation is utilized in an arbitral context. The prime comparison is between parallel mediation with a separate neutral and the alternative of a dual-role neutral. The three key points are: there should be much more mediation occurring at the international level, regarding both potential and actual arbitral disputes; a commercially minded arbitrator concerned for the parties’ good faith should encourage mediation where appropriate, in particular, when an adjudicated outcome will not be in the interests of either, usually because the dispute is a small part of a long-term relationship that can risk that relationship no matter who wins; and, while informed party autonomy should always support a dual-role neutral, in most factual permutations, informed parties could be expected to prefer parallel mediation provided there is full cooperation between mediator and arbitrator. The chapter argues that the relative benefits of the use of dual-role neutrals would be greatly outweighed by the costs in fairness and efficiency, and the inevitable need for a sub-optimal design of either or both dispute processes. The benefits would also be separately outweighed by the risks of significant disruption to any ensuing arbitration if a dual-role neutral fails to achieve a settlement.


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