A cost-benefit analysis of the random assignment UK Employment Retention and Advancement Demonstration

This article presents a cost-benefit analysis of Britain’s Employment Retention and Advancement (ERA) demonstration, which was evaluated through the first large-scale randomized control trial in the UK. ERA used a combination of job coaching and financial incentives in attempting to help long-term unemployed men and low-income lone parents sustain employment and progress in work once they were employed. Using both administrative and survey data, ERA’s effects on benefits and costs were estimated through impact analyses, which exploited the experimental design. The findings indicated that ERA was cost beneficial for long-term unemployed adult men, but not for lone parents. The key findings appear robust to sensitivity tests. Uncertainty, as implied by the SEs of the estimated impacts, was addressed through a Monte Carlo analysis, an approach seldom previously used in cost-benefit analyses of social programs.     

对我国小产权房问题的认识——基于成本—效益分析

小产权房的兴起是近年来在全国各大城市周边越来越引人注目的一个社会现象。从实践层面来讲,小产权房是一场土地和房屋供应的革命,也是农民自我城市化的一场革命。文章采用一种基于成本效益比较的理论来解释当前的小产权房现象,最后提出了解决小产权房问题的对策建议。     

Environmental Appraisal and Environmental Policy in the European Union

Revisions to the European Treaty of Union require some form of environmental appraisal – primarily risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis – of regulatory initiatives by the European Commission. A retrospective look at the emergence of environmental appraisal also shows that, while the Commission has made great advances in introducing cost-benefit or cost-effectiveness appraisals in recent years, past environmental decisions and overall environmental policy have not been informed by systematic appraisal techniques. Nor is it clear what role is now being played by risk assessments. While it is impossible to gauge the extent to which systematic appraisal procedures will save on regulatory and compliance expenditures, some indications are provided of the costs of past neglect of these procedures.     

A cost–benefit analysis of hearing aids,including the benefits of reducing the symptoms of dementia

We carried out a CBA of hearing aids (HAs) in which we estimated the direct utility benefits, and included the indirect utility benefits working through a reduction in dementia symptoms. The benefits methodology involved using QALYs as the outcome measure and then applying the price of a QALY to convert the outcome measure into monetary terms. The price of a QALY was derived from an age-specific VSL estimate. The effects of HAs on utility were estimated from a fixed effects regression on a large national panel data set provided by NACC where we used a negative proxy for the QoL. We also used a fixed effects regression for the estimate of the indirect benefits involving HAs reducing dementia symptoms. We found that the total benefits, mainly coming from the direct benefits, were extremely large relative to the costs, with benefit–cost ratios over 30.     

Pairwise comparison of concessions in negotiation processes

Starting off with a pairwise-comparison method to evaluate the possible deals between two parties in conflict, we generalize the approach and we consider the case of three parties in conflict. The basic step is the subjective evaluation of a deal where each party offers exactly one concession. The trade-off of benefits and costs is judged in verbal terms which are subsequently converted into numerical values on a discrete geometric scale. Although the number of plausible geometric scales is large, the information to be used by a mediator is scale-independent. The approach is illustrated by the results of an exploratory project aiming at a balanced CO₂ emission reduction in Poland, Brazil, and the netherlands. The success of the method depends largely on the information-processing support. Given the limitations of human imagination and human judgement, the method is not likely to be effective in a conflict among four or more parties, although it can easily be generalized.Paper presented at the IFAC Workshop on Support Systems for Decision and Negotiation Processes, Warsaw, Poland, June 24–26, 1992.     

Costs and benefits of forest conservation: regional and local comparisons in Eastern Finland

In addition to environmental interests vs. timber production, debates on forest conservation have typically dealt with nationwide vs. local and regional interests. While most previous studies have focused on the nationwide perspective, this paper considers the benefits and costs of existing conservation areas from the regional and local point of view. The non-market benefits of conservation are measured by means of contingent valuation. Unlike most discrete-choice CV studies, we allow for zero willingness to pay. The results of our cost-benefit analysis suggest that the aggregate benefits of conservation clearly exceed the total opportunity costs when viewed from a regional (or nationwide) perspective, but at the local level costs exceed the benefits of conservation. Differences were also found in locally vs. regionally relevant benefits and costs.     

扭曲与矫正之成本权衡--汇率机制改革后人民币升值压力累积与释放效应分析

目前人民币仍面临由自身价值提高、篮子货币贬值和市场升值预期复合而成的多重升值压力.面对压力,有名义升值、实际升值和压力累积等三种政策方案可供选择.从成本收益量化比较来看,名义升值净成本最低.因此,应在不超过升值压力幅度的范围内允许人民币名义汇率继续缓升,以消除货币低估,实现内外均衡.     

CPA审计的独立性研究:威胁、防护及成效分析

独立性是社会审计的精髓,是CPA履行社会责任的根本保证。论文以CPA审计为视角,分析了影响CPA审计独立性的诸多因素,阐述了缺乏独立性对社会的威胁,探索了防护独立性的相关措施,其中对扩大会计师事务所规模的成本效益关系进行了较深地、有创意地数理推论,从而逻辑性地得出通过扩大事务所规模以提高审计独立性的必然结论。     

作业成本法在制造业中的应用探讨

文章提出了在现有成本核算方式不变的情况下,结合运用作业成本法的理念,引入不同成本动因,采用不同的分摊方式,计算出产品的实际成本,从而计算出企业同时生产不同产品的实际盈亏状况的机械制造企业作业成本计算公式。