Resources Repository
-
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2021Resource Pack: Valuing Health and Longevity in BCA
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the valuation of …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the valuation of changes in health and longevity in benefit-cost analysis. It is targeted towards advanced students and practitioners who have a basic understanding of the benefit-cost analysis framework, as discussed in the Resource Pack: Introduction to Benefit-Cost Analysis. That pack provides a general overview of the approaches that are explored in more detail here, as well as related guidance documents. This pack…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Policy Translation -
Online LearningVideo, Teaching Resource 2020Valuing Statistical Lives: Concepts, Current Practices, and Challenges
Many policies aim to improve longevity, decreasing the risk of death in each year, and …
Many policies aim to improve longevity, decreasing the risk of death in each year, and the value of these risk reductions often dominate the estimated benefits of risk regulations and other policies. This value is often expressed as the value per statistical life (VSL), a term that is widely misunderstood. It is not the value that the analyst, the government, or the individual places on saving an identified life with certainty. Instead, it reflects individuals’…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2020Premature Deaths, Statistical Lives, and Years of Life
This article clarifies some misconceptions about mortality risk and economic valuation. The mortality effects of …
This article clarifies some misconceptions about mortality risk and economic valuation. The mortality effects of exposure to environmental hazards such as air pollution are often described by the estimated number of “premature deaths” and the economic value of an exposure reduction as the number of “statistical lives saved” multiplied by the “value per statistical life.” These terms can be misleading because the number of deaths advanced by exposure cannot be determined from mortality data; it…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Environmental Health | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2019Resource Pack: BCA in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, includes methods papers, case …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, includes methods papers, case studies, and reference case guidance for conducting benefit-cost analyses in low- and middle-income countries. These resources will aid advanced students and experienced practitioners in preparing these analyses. Investing in global health and development requires making difficult choices about what initiatives to fund and what level of resources to devote to each initiative. Although benefit-cost analysis is a well-established and widely-used…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Decision Analysis | Social Determinants | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2024Resource Pack: Introduction to Benefit-Cost Analysis
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the theory and …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis. It is targeted towards advanced students as well as practitioners and those interested in teaching benefit-cost analysis. Benefit-cost analysis (also referred to as cost-benefit analysis) is a well-established and widely-used form of economic evaluation. It is designed to inform policy and other decisions by providing evidence on the consequences of alternative interventions. In benefit-cost analysis, all…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Decision Analysis | Social Determinants | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Professional | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
OrganizationWeb Portal 2024Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis
The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (SBCA), founded in 2007, works to improve the theory and …
The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (SBCA), founded in 2007, works to improve the theory and practice of benefit-cost analysis and support evidence-based policy decisions. It addresses policy areas including public health, transportation, criminal justice, education, energy, environmental quality, homeland security, and poverty. Members include scholars and practitioners from around the world, who work in government, academia, nonprofits and private industry. Its members represent numerous disciplines such as economics, law, engineering, public policy, decision science, and…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Costing Methods | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Economics/Finance | Energy/Engineering | Education/Labor | Food/Agriculture | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology | Global | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ReportPublication 2017DCP3: Injury Prevention and Environmental Health
This report from the World Bank is the seventh volume of the Disease Control Priorities, …
This report from the World Bank is the seventh volume of the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) series and focuses on injury prevention and environmental health. The burden of death and disability resulting from interpersonal violence, road traffic injuries, unintentional injuries, occupational health risks, and climate and pollution falls disproportionately on low- and middle- income countries. This report examines risk factors and offers an economic analysis of platforms to deliver cost-effective interventions to prevent…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | Evidence Synthesis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Injuries/Accidents | Environmental Health | Global Governance | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2018Resource Allocation in Decision Support Frameworks
Multi-criteria decision-making frameworks expand on typical decision analyses (cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit) by explicitly incorporating value …
Multi-criteria decision-making frameworks expand on typical decision analyses (cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit) by explicitly incorporating value tradeoffs from decision makers and summarizing the performance of investment options. This is done across all chosen dimensions of value, based on the weights provided by the decision makers, but comes at a cost. Currently there is no widely accepted method to suggest how to determine a budget constraint using multi-attribute models or to measure willingness to pay for incremental…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Health Systems | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | Global -
BookPublication 2018Pricing Lives: Guideposts for a Safer Society
This book describes how the government came to adopt the value of a statistical life …
This book describes how the government came to adopt the value of a statistical life (VSL) approach for valuing changes in mortality risks and argues that its more widespread use would create a safer and more equitable society. The author estimates these values based on how much more money workers would demand to take on more hazardous jobs; his current estimate is $10 million. The book addresses numerous topics such as whether older people’s lives…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis