scholarly journals Detailed and large-scale cost/benefit analyses of landslide prevention vs. post-event actions

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 2461-2472 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Salbego ◽  
M. Floris ◽  
E. Busnardo ◽  
M. Toaldo ◽  
R. Genevois

Abstract. The main aim of this paper is to test economic benefits of landslide prevention measures vs. post-event emergency actions. To this end, detailed- and large-scale analyses were performed in a training area located in the northeastern Italian pre-Alps that was hit by an exceptional rainfall event occurred in November 2010. On the detailed scale, a landslide reactivated after 2010 event was investigated. Numerical modeling demonstrated that remedial works carried out after the landslide – water-removal intervention such as a drainage trench – could have improved slope stability if applied before its occurrence. Then, a cost/benefit analysis was employed. It defined that prevention would have been economically convenient compared to a non-preventive and passive attitude, allowing a 30 % saving relative to total costs. On the large scale, one of the most affected areas after 2010 event was considered. A susceptibility analysis was performed using a simple probabilistic model, which allowed to highlight the main landslide conditioning factors and the most hazardous and vulnerable sectors. In particular, such low-cost analysis demonstrated that almost 50 % of landslides occurred after 2010 event could be foreseen and allowed to roughly quantify benefits from regional landslide prevention. However, a large-scale approach is insufficient to carry out a quantitative cost/benefit analysis, for which a detailed case-by-case risk assessment is needed. The here proposed approaches could be used as a means of preventive soil protection in not only the investigated case study but also all those hazardous areas where preventive measures are needed.

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1329-1355
Author(s):  
G. Salbego ◽  
M. Floris ◽  
E. Busnardo ◽  
M. Toaldo

Abstract. The main aim of this paper is to test economic benefits of landslide prevention measures vs. post-event emergency actions. To this end, small and large scale analyses were performed in a training area located in the North-Eastern Italian pre-Alps that was hit by an exceptional rainfall event occurred in November 2010. At the small-scale, landslide susceptibility was initially assessed using a simple probabilistic analysis, which allowed to highlight the main landslide conditioning factors and the most hazardous areas. However, this approach revealed to be quite insufficient to reach planned goals, so a large-scale case-by-case analysis was performed: a study case was defined, according to landslide occurrence frequency and assessment of elements at risk. Numerical modeling demonstrated that remedial works carried out after the landslide – water-removal intervention such as a drainage trench – could have improved slope stability if applied before its occurrence. Then, a cost-benefit analysis was finally employed. It defined that prevention would have been economically convenient compared to a non-preventive and passive attitude, allowing a 30% saving relative to total costs. Therefore, this kind of approach could be actually used as a mean toward preventive soil protection not only within the investigated case study, but also in all those hazardous areas where preventive measures are needed.


2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 267-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur J. Reynolds ◽  
Judy A. Temple ◽  
Dylan L. Robertson ◽  
Emily A. Mann

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.


2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 915-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Mihic ◽  
Dejan Petrovic ◽  
Aleksandar Vuckovic ◽  
Vladimir Obradovic ◽  
Dejan Djurovic

The main objective of this paper is to present the advantages of using Cost-Benefit analysis in energy efficiency projects implemented in public buildings, and to prove the hypothesis that Cost-Benefit analysis boosts the effectiveness and efficiency of the said type of projects. The paper offers theoretical and practical explanation of the implementation of Cost-Benefit analysis in the relevant area. Since energy efficiency projects in public buildings usually represent a part of a broader portfolio of similar projects and their implementation demands allocation of substantial financial resources, communities are often be interested in achieving maximal economic and non-economic benefits. This paper aims to demonstrate that Cost-Benefit analysis can represent an excellent contribution when attempting to select the projects for implementation within a broader portfolio of energy efficiency projects in public buildings. This hypothesis was demonstrated by putting a greater emphasis on non-economic benefits and the costs arising from implementation of the aforementioned types of projects. In addition, a practical test of this hypothesis was performed through the implementation of an energy efficiency portfolio in public buildings, worth several tens of millions of dollars - the Serbian Energy Efficiency Project. The paper concludes that the use of Cost-Benefit analysis can help us to effectively evaluate and manage projects of this type aimed at achieving maximum benefits for the community in question.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-586
Author(s):  
Patrice Garant ◽  
Huguette Pagé

The Ombudsman is one of the three recognised control agents of today's Public Administration. He has his own characteristics that make him the most accessible, speedy, low cost and efficient instrument of safeguard against illegal, irregular or arbitrary administrative action. A thorough study of the Ombudsmen of two major provinces, Ontario and Québec, is more than interesting and makes one wonder why the 1978 federal project was abandonned. In a broad perpective, that includes a cost-benefit analysis, a comparison between the Ombudsman and the system of administrative appeal or review tribunals allows us to characterize each's specific role and evaluate the need they are respectively intended to fill.


2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 593-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Winkler ◽  
Randall Spalding-Fecher ◽  
Lwazikazi Tyani ◽  
Khorommbi Matibe

Author(s):  
Anett Erdmann ◽  
Alfonso Jesús Torres Marín

<p><strong>Purpose</strong>: The main goal of this paper is to determine if the use of a blended methodology can improve performance and satisfaction of the students, with no additional time cost for teachers. As a second objective, the article attempts to explain observed differences across students in the effect of the methodology on study time based on the theory of optimal decision making. Finally, we sketch a simple cost benefit analysis for the digital learning platform (DLP) used.</p><p><strong>Design</strong>: The teachers combined the traditional classes methodology with the adoption of a DLP in two courses of Microeconomics at an undergraduate level at ESIC Business &amp; Marketing School. Subsequently it is analyzed the impact of this methodology on student satisfaction and performance, as well as on student’s study time using different analytical tools.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong>  students’ grades, at the final exam, increased in a significative way as they spent more time with the DLP and/or when they do more digital assignments at home. Their satisfaction with the blended methodology, and the use of the DLP was quite high for most of students. Their feedback on working time relative to traditional methods showed two extremes, either studying much more or much less. We provide a theoretical explanation for this observation, based on Microeconomic theory.  A cost-benefit analysis of the DLP tool at an institutional level suggests that its economic costs are more than justified by the economic benefits of the tool in terms of student’s satisfaction, brand reputation and teachers time saving.</p><p><strong>Contribution:</strong> This document provides a methodology to measure the benefits of an innovative learning methodology using relevant indicators and employing advanced statistical techniques as regression analysis. It also helps us to understand student’s behavior in the face of an educational innovation based on technology. The findings are in line with economic theory.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 2953-2963
Author(s):  
SLAĐANA SAVIĆ ◽  
◽  
BORISZ CZEKUS ◽  
ENIKE GREGORIĆ ◽  
SONJA ĐURIČIN ◽  
...  

The aim of the paper is to test the effect of climatic conditions and management practices on the yield of two quinoa cultivars (Puno and Titicaca) and to analyze the economic benefits of quinoa productivity. The experiments were carried out during the 2017 and 2019 growing seasons in rain-fed conditions on a Serbian farm. The results of the two-year long experiments proved that the growing of the quinoa cultivar Puno and particularly the cultivar Titicaca in the agro-ecological conditions of Serbia would be remarkably successful from the aspect of agronomy (with the obtained average yield of 2.5 t ha-1 ) as well as from the aspect of economy (with the achieved average profit of 9,411 € ha-1 ). The obtained profit values indicate that the quinoa production in the Republic of Serbia would be more cost-effective than the production of the field crops which are already produced, particularly in the increasingly present arid conditions.


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