Benefit Cost Analysis and Public Decisions Concerning Natural Resources and Environment: A Study in Ethics and Values

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A natural resource and environmental economist and a philosopher specializing in socio-political ethics and the philosophy of economics will study the ethical and value implications of using benefit cost analysis (BCA) when public decisions about natural and environmental resources are being made. Using standard economic-theoretic and philosophical methods, the investigators will (1) identify and analyze the ethical and value commitments inherent in using BCA to evaluate proposed public policies, and (2) examine particular ethics and values issues that arise when BCA is applied to decisions about natural and environmental resources, with special attention to public goods and nonmarket valuations. Combining these methods with a case study of land-use management decision-making in the USDA Forest Service, the investigators will also examine value conflicts confronting economists and the discipline of economics when BCA has an important and perhaps decisive role in policy-making. The case study will be based on review of specialized literature and agency documents, and key-informant interviews. The investigators will disseminate results through scholarly channels as well multidisciplinary and semi-popular outlets; they will also evaluate the possibility of preparing a book and holding a special workshop for for selected scholars, land use and environmental managers, and representatives of relevant interest groups, based on their results. This project will make a unique contribution to scholarly and professional understanding of ethical and value issues surrounding development and application of BCA in public decisions about natural and environmental resources. The investigators are both exceptionally well-qualified; graduate students are involved; institutional support is good. This is a good example of the kind of cross-disciplinary collaborative research EVS should encourage. Results are likely to be useful and widely disseminated. Costs are very reasonable. Total support in the amount of $80,000 is recommended, of which $70,000 comes from Ethics and Values Studies and $10,000 from the Economics Program.