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On non-marginal cost-benefit analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Dietz
  • Cameron Hepburn
Abstract
Conventional benefit-cost analysis incorporates the normally reasonable assumption that the policy or project under examination is marginal. In particular, it is assumed that the policy or project does not change the underlying growth rate of the economy. However, this assumption may be inappropriate in some important circumstances, notably responding to climate change. One example is the benefit-cost analysis of global targets for carbon emissions, while another might be a large renewable energy project in a small economy, such as a hydropower dam. This paper develops some theory on the evaluation of non-marginal policies and projects, with simple empirical applications to climate change. We examine the conditions under which evaluation of a non-marginal project using marginal methods may be wrong, and in our empirical examples we show that both qualitative and large quantitative errors are plausible.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Dietz & Cameron Hepburn, 2010. "On non-marginal cost-benefit analysis," GRI Working Papers 18, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    • Handle: RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp18
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Hendry, 2010. "Climate Change: Lessons for our Future from the Distant Past," Economics Series Working Papers 485, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    2. Megan Ceronsky & David Anthoff & Cameron Hepburn & Richard S.J. Tol, 2005. "Checking The Price Tag On Catastrophe: The Social Cost Of Carbon Under Non-Linear Climate Response," Working Papers FNU-87, Research unit Sustainability and Global Change, Hamburg University, revised Aug 2005.
    3. Cameron Hepburn & Benito Müller, 2010. "International Air Travel and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Proposal for an Adaptation Levy1," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 830-849, June.
    4. Ian Bateman & Georgina Mace & Carlo Fezzi & Giles Atkinson & Kerry Turner, 2011. "Economic Analysis for Ecosystem Service Assessments," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(2), pages 177-218, February.
    5. Koen Vermeylen, 2013. "Non-Marginal Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Tyranny of Discounting," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-203/VI, Tinbergen Institute.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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