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. Cost-Benefit Analysis, Environmental Policy, and Emerging Economies 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.

Table of Contents:
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, Veronica Garibay-Bravo, Gretchen A. Stevens, and Georgina Echaniz-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 Lebre 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

About the Author :
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.

Review :
Livermore and Revesz present a collection of articles on the use of cost-benefit analysis in emerging economies and the developing world. The collection discusses the unique problems of applying this tool in countries that are often fraught with market failures and/or institutional problems. A series of case studies on natural resource use and pollution control are included to demonstrate the potential of cost-benefit analysis in this setting. Overall, this volume is accessible to both undergraduates and graduate students. It would be a useful companion text for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course examining environmental policy in the developing world. Highly recommended. Academic collections, upper-division undergraduate and above.