In this note we discuss how a cost–benefit analysis could be formulated in a second-best world where lump-sum taxation is not available. The question is how the government's budget is balanced. Different options are available. A value added tax or an income tax or a profit tax could be...

We compare different contingent valuation question formats with each other and with observed behaviour for a non-monetary estimation task, the expected number of kilometers travelled by automobile. Open-ended questions, open-ended follow-up questions, dichotomous choice (DC) questions, and...

It has recently been argued that altruistic motives for paying for a public sector project should be ignored in a cost-benefit analysis. The reason is that including altruism would mean a kind of double counting of the project's benefits. This paper takes a look at these arguments, and derives...

In this note, we consider a case when a forestry property may lose its market value through “political risk”, illustrated here by it being classified as containing a key biotope. If a key biotope is found on a forest property in Sweden, the wood is almost impossible to sell. We show how the...