Resources Repository
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Working PaperPublication 2015Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Cities
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions …
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions undertaken at the city or municipal level. It introduces the concepts that underlie the conduct of benefit-cost analysis, describes the major analytic components, and discusses how to tailor the analysis to the characteristics of the policy and the resources available. It concludes with a list of references for those interested in learning more.
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Environmental Health | Decision Analysis | Social Determinants | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
GuidelinesPublication 2014EPA Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses provide a framework for …
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses provide a framework for assessing the impacts of environmental regulations and policies that has been extensively peer-reviewed and is widely-applied both within and outside of the agency. The Guidelines discuss: (1) statutory and executive order requirements for conducting economic analyses; (2) identifying the need for policy action; (3) regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to pollution control; (4) baseline definition; (5) discounting future benefits and costs;…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Environmental Health | Decision Analysis | Climate/Environment | Government/Law | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | State-Transition | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Mathematical Models | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Emerging Therapies for COVID-19: The Value of Information From More Clinical Trials
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face …
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face of uncertainty. This study aimed to quantify consequences of approving therapies or pursuing further research. The authors used a cohort state-transition model for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to estimate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs associated with multiple drug regimens and usual care. For each they assessed immediate approval, use only in research, emergency use authorization or reject. They conducted cost-effectiveness…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | State-Transition | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Value of Information | Economics/Finance | Europe -
ReportPublication 2021Valuing COVID-19 Mortality and Morbidity Risks
In this report, the researchers develop an approach for valuing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity risk …
In this report, the researchers develop an approach for valuing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity risk reductions that builds on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Guidelines for Regulatory Impact Analysis. They review the differences between COVID-19 mortality risks and the types of risks that are more commonly studied, and find that the impacts of these differences on the value of mortality risk reductions (the value per statistical life, VSL) are uncertain. They…
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law -
Online LearningVideo, Teaching Resource 2021Reporting on COVID-19 Vaccines at the Intersection of Science and Politics
Journalists play a vital role in communicating to the public about COVID-19 vaccines, and currently …
Journalists play a vital role in communicating to the public about COVID-19 vaccines, and currently under challenging circumstances. The science surrounding COVID-19 is rapidly changing, vaccines have been developed at “warp speed” using a new approach, and misinformation is on the rise. Moreover, current and historical injustices and inequities, as well as heightened political polarization, affect what information is consumed, trusted, and acted upon. This webinar offers an opportunity for members of the media to…
Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2021National Academies Work Helps Foster an Evidence-Based Information Environment
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a public advisory on health misinformation, calling it a …
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a public advisory on health misinformation, calling it a “serious threat to public health” and encouraging all Americans to help slow its spread during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. To that end, the National Academies have been addressing misinformation in health and science on multiple fronts and are taking steps to help cultivate a fact- and evidence-based information environment. This description was extracted from the article.
Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2020Online Competition between Pro- and Anti-Vaccination Views
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, …
Distrust in scientific expertise is dangerous. Opposition to vaccination with a future vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the causal agent of COVID-19, for example, could amplify outbreaks as happened for measles in 2019. Homemade remedies and falsehoods are being shared widely on the Internet, as well as dismissals of expert advice. There is a lack of understanding about how this distrust evolves at the system level. Authors provide a map of the contention surrounding vaccines that has…
Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Social Determinants | Health Systems | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology