Hidden Costs, Value Lost

Hidden Costs, Value Lost
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2003-06-19
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0309133203

Hidden Cost, Value Lost, the fifth of a series of six books on the consequences of uninsurance in the United States, illustrates some of the economic and social losses to the country of maintaining so many people without health insurance. The book explores the potential economic and societal benefits that could be realized if everyone had health insurance on a continuous basis, as people over age 65 currently do with Medicare. Hidden Costs, Value Lost concludes that the estimated benefits across society in health years of life gained by providing the uninsured with the kind and amount of health services that the insured use, are likely greater than the additional social costs of doing so. The potential economic value to be gained in better health outcomes from uninterrupted coverage for all Americans is estimated to be between $65 and $130 billion each year.

New Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis

New Foundations of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Author: Matthew D. Adler
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2006-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780674022799

In this book, the authors reconceptualize cost-benefit analysis, arguing that its objective should be overall well-being rather than economic efficiency. This book not only places cost-benefit analysis on a firmer theoretical foundation, but also has many practical implications for how government agencies should undertake cost-benefit studies.

The Costs and Benefits of Price Stability

The Costs and Benefits of Price Stability
Author: Martin Feldstein
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226241769

In recent years, the Federal Reserve and central banks worldwide have enjoyed remarkable success in their battle against inflation. The challenge now confronting the Fed and its counterparts is how to proceed in this newly benign economic environment: Should monetary policy seek to maintain a rate of low-level inflation or eliminate inflation altogether in an effort to attain full price stability? In a seminal article published in 1997, Martin Feldstein developed a framework for calculating the gains in economic welfare that might result from a move from a low level of inflation to full price stability. The present volume extends that analysis, focusing on the likely costs and benefits of achieving price stability not only in the United States, but in Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom as well. The results show that even small changes in already low inflation rates can have a substantial impact on the economic performance of different countries, and that variations in national tax rules can affect the level of gain from disinflation.

The Effective Measurement and Management of ICT Costs and Benefits

The Effective Measurement and Management of ICT Costs and Benefits
Author: Dan Remenyi
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2007-03-27
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0080488757

This is a new and extensively updated edition of one of leading and authoritive books on the subject of IT costs and benefits. Since it was first published in the early 1990s, this book has established itself as the most comprehensive and complete approach to understanding the economics of how information is used to boost the efficiency or effectiveness of companies. The ideas in this book are used extensively in business, and the book is widely adopted and recommended at leading business schools around the world. This book will show you: How to use cost benefits analysis or business case accounting How to use user satisfaction surveys and value for money studies How to integrate IT benefit delivery into IT project management This book covers a wide spectrum of IT cost and benefit solutions, ranging from business case accounting and user satisfaction studies right through to the business processes which need to be in place in order to ensure the effective measurement and management of IT costs and benefits. This book takes you through a basic understanding of the issues involved and onto the detail of how to perform the techniques required to measure and thus mange IT costs and benefits. The rapidly increasing level of expenditure on information technology in most organisations is one reason why IT benefits management has become an important business concern. Top management have begun to insist that much more attention be paid to the economic aspects of information systems. put the difficulties with IT benefits behind you measure IT benefits and manage their delivery know what measurement tools are available for the task New to the third edition: The evolution of thinking in ICT costs and benefits; management instinct; the chapter on Identification and Treatment of ICT costs is replaced with a more thorough treatment of the subject; the chapter on Risk Analysis is expanded by 50% with new and latest thinking on the subject; new chapters on: ICT evaluation as a political act, and the evaluation of an outsourcing contract. Extensive revisions of the material through out bring the book up-to-date with the latest thinking and evaluation techniques complete with a number of suggested websites through out the book where more information about the subject may be found. Covers all the practical aspects of business case accounting, ranking techniques and user information system surveys in connection with the effective measurement and management of IT costs and benefits Identifies a basic framework to help you understand the economic and financial issues of information technology investment Gives you evaluation concepts as well as several approaches to cost and benefit measurement Provides you with an IT Assessment Metric (ITAM) - which allows you to measure your firms progress towards obtaining maximum value from information technology procured * Gives you a basic framework to help you understand the economic and financial issues of IT investment * Covers all practical aspects of business case accounting, ranking techniques, user information system surveys IT costs and benefits analysis * Provides you with an IT Assessment Metric - allows you to measure your firms progress towards obtaining maximum value from information technology procured

Costs and Benefits of Collective Pension Systems

Costs and Benefits of Collective Pension Systems
Author: Onno W. Steenbeek
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2007-10-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 354074374X

Recommended by Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton, this book offers the world a first-hand opportunity to learn why the Dutch pension system is so often praised and how it operates. The book also discusses aspects of the system that are less favorable, such as implicit value transfers from younger to older generations that limit mobility of labor. Throughout the discussions, the authors provide quantitative evidence to support their assertions.

Why Do We Recycle?

Why Do We Recycle?
Author: Frank Ackerman
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1597267880

The earnest warnings of an impending "solid waste crisis" that permeated the 1980s provided the impetus for the widespread adoption of municipal recycling programs. Since that time America has witnessed a remarkable rise in public participation in recycling activities, including curbside collection, drop-off centers, and commercial and office programs. Recently, however, a backlash against these programs has developed. A vocal group of "anti-recyclers" has appeared, arguing that recycling is not an economically efficient strategy for addressing waste management problems. In Why Do We Recycle? Frank Ackerman examines the arguments for and against recycling, focusing on the debate surrounding the use of economic mechanisms to determine the value of recycling. Based on previously unpublished research conducted by the Tellus Institute, a nonprofit environmental research group in Boston, Massachusetts, Ackerman presents an alternative view of the theory of market incentives, challenging the notion that setting appropriate prices and allowing unfettered competition will result in the most efficient level of recycling. Among the topics he considers are: externality issues -- unit pricing for waste disposal, effluent taxes, virgin materials subsidies, advance disposal fees the landfill crisis and disposal facility siting container deposit ("bottle bill") legislation environmental issues that fall outside of market theory calculating costs and benefits of municipal recycling programs life-cycle analysis and packaging policy -- Germany's "Green Dot" packaging system and producer responsibility the impacts of production in extractive and manufacturing industries composting and organic waste management economics of conservation, and material use and long-term sustainability Ackerman explains why purely economic approaches to recycling are incomplete and argues for a different kind of decisionmaking, one that addresses social issues, future as well as present resource needs, and non-economic values that cannot be translated into dollars and cents. Backed by empirical data and replete with specific examples, the book offers valuable guidance for municipal planners, environmental managers, and policymakers responsible for establishing and implementing recycling programs. It is also an accessible introduction to the subject for faculty, students, and concerned citizens interested in the social, economic, and ethical underpinnings of recycling efforts.

The Full Costs and Benefits of Transportation

The Full Costs and Benefits of Transportation
Author: David L. Greene
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3642590640

Modern transportation systems have far-reaching, and serious consequences: deaths and injuries from accidents, pollution of air, water and groundwater, noise congestion, and the greenhouse effect. As world transport systems expand and become increasingly motorised, the transportation community is searching for systems that are both efficient and sustainable. Here, leading international researchers explore the issues and concepts and define the state of knowledge concerning the full costs and benefits of transportation.

Social Costs and Benefits of Renewable Electricity Generation in Cyprus

Social Costs and Benefits of Renewable Electricity Generation in Cyprus
Author: Theodoros Zachariadis
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 53
Release: 2016-03-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319315358

This book presents an economic cost-benefit assessment of the penetration of renewable power generation in Cyprus up to 2030. Unlike a purely financial appraisal, we employ a social cost-benefit analysis that is mainly relevant for policy makers, taking into account – apart from direct financial costs – external costs and benefits from the diffusion of renewable electricity. The book presents a comprehensive yet straightforward case study, probably the first one conducted for Cyprus. Electricity produced by renewable sources increased worldwide at its fastest rate to date in 2014. Driven by policies to mitigate climate change, enhance energy security and reduce air pollution, and by declining costs of major technologies, renewables account for almost all net new power generating capacity in the developed world. In this context, Cyprus is increasingly adopting renewable power generation as well. In addition to its energy and environmental commitments as a member of the European Union, the country wishes to diversify its energy supply in order to drive down electricity costs and reduce energy supply risks. A significant deployment of renewable electricity is foreseen in the coming decades. Is it economically justified for a small country with an isolated electric system like Cyprus.

Gambling in America

Gambling in America
Author: Earl L. Grinols
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2004-01-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1139450239

Gambling in America carefully breaks ground by developing analytical tools to assess the benefits and costs of the economic and social changes introduced by casino gambling in monetary terms, linking them to individual households' utility and well-being. Since casinos are associated with unintended and often negative economic consequences, these factors are incorporated into the discussion. The book also shows how amenity benefits - for casinos, the benefit to consumers of closer proximity - enter the evaluation. Other topics include agent incentives and public decision making, conceptual clarifications about economic development, cost-benefit analysis, and net export multiplier models. Professor Grinols finds that, in considering all relevant factors, the social costs of casino gambling outweigh their social benefits.

Economic Evaluation in Education

Economic Evaluation in Education
Author: Henry M. Levin
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2017-06-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 148338179X

The past decade has seen increased attention to cost-effectiveness and benefit-cost analysis in education as administrators are being asked to accomplish more with the same or even fewer resources, philanthropists are keen to calculate their "return on investment" in social programs, and the general public is increasingly scrutinizing how resources are allocated to schools and colleges. Economic Evaluation in Education: Cost-Effectiveness and Benefit-Cost Analysis (titled Cost-Effectiveness Analysis: Methods and Applications in its previous editions) is the only full-length book to provide readers with the step-by-step methods they need to plan and implement a benefit-cost analysis in education. Authors Henry M. Levin, Patrick J. McEwan, Clive Belfield, Alyshia Brooks Bowden, and Robert Shand examine a range of issues, including how to identify, measure, and distribute costs; how to measure effectiveness, utility, and benefits; and how to incorporate cost evaluations into the decision-making process. The updates to the Third Edition reflect the considerable methodological development in the evaluation literature, and the greater empiricism practiced by education researchers, to help readers learn to apply more advanced methods to their own analyses.