We study the incorporation of ecosystem services in German water infrastructure planning exemplified by a projected deepening of the Lower Weser river channel. Therefore, we recalculate the project's benefit-cost ratio by integrating the monetary value of changes in different ecosystem services:...

Discounting future costs and benefits is a crucial yet contentious practice in the appraisal of long-term public projects with environmental consequences. The standard approach typically neglects that ecosystem services are not easily substitutable with manufactured goods and often exhibit...