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

自然资源和环境经济学家，哲学家 专攻社会政治伦理学和经济学哲学 将研究使用效益成本的伦理和价值含义 分析（BCA），当公共决策的自然和环境 资源正在形成。 使用标准的经济理论和 哲学方法，研究人员将（1）识别和分析 使用BCA评估所固有的道德和价值承诺 提出公共政策;（2）审查特定的道德和价值观 当BCA应用于有关自然和 环境资源，特别关注公益物， 非市场估值。 结合这些方法， 土地使用管理决策在美国农业部林务局， 调查人员还将研究经济学家面临的价值冲突 和经济学的学科，当BCA有一个重要的，也许 在决策中的决定性作用。 案例研究将基于审查 专业文献和机构文件，以及关键线人 采访 调查人员将通过以下方式传播结果： 学术渠道以及多学科和半大众渠道; 他们还将评估准备一本书并举行 为选定的学者举办了一个特别讲习班， 环境管理人员和相关利益的代表 根据他们的结果。 该项目将为学术和 对道德和价值问题的专业理解 BCA在自然资源公共决策中的发展与应用 和环境资源。 调查人员都是例外 高素质;研究生参与;机构支持 很好. 这是一个很好的例子， EVS应该鼓励合作研究。 结果很可能是 有用并广泛传播。 费用非常合理。 总 建议提供80 000美元的支助，其中70 000美元来自 伦理和价值观研究和10,000美元的经济学计划。

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.