CBA is an attempt to fully account for all costs associated with a new proposal along with a detailed calculation of specific private and public benefits. Properly employed, CBA is simply a method for assessing a proposal prior to a collective decision by calculating net benefits relative to an alternative project or the default option of doing nothing.

Barry P. Keating, PhD is Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Notre Dame. He is a Heritage Foundation Fellow, a Heartland Institute Fellow, and an advisor of both the Indiana Policy Review Group and the Institute of Business Forecasting. He is the coauthor of many successful books including Regression Analysis, Business Expert Press, 2012.

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Cost Benefit Analysis .....................................................................1 Chapter 2 Cost Benefit Analysis and Individual Preferences ........................................................15 Chapter 3 Time Preference and the Discount Rate .......................................................................29 Chapter 4 Measuring Costs and Benefits .....................................................................................39 Chapter 5 Shadow Pricing ...........................................................................................................59 Chapter 6 Potential Pitfalls in Cost Benefit Analysis ....................................................................67 Chapter 7 Introducing Cost Benefit Analysis to the Non-Specialist ......................................................................................................................75 Chapter 8 Cost Benefit Analysis of Proposed New Regulations ....................................................83 Chapter 9 Case Study: Contracting Versus a Municipal Animal Control Shelter ...............................................................................................................93 Chapter 10 Case Study: Cost Benefit Analysis for a Forty Acre Industrial Park Intended to Spawn Economic Development and Jobs ..............................................................................................................101 Chapter 11 Case Study: Establishing a Recreational Program for the Disabled ........................................................................................................................109 Appendix ............................................................................................115 Notes .................................................................................................119 References ...........................................................................................121 Index .................................................................................................125