Does the case for tackling human-induced climatic change become stronger as mean-preserving uncertainty, as measured by the standard deviation of possible outcomes, rises? When excluding the real option policy choice of waiting before acting, I show that a simple set of conditions will ensure...

The initial hope for climate science was that an improved understanding of what the future might bring would lead to appropriate public policies and effective international climate agreements. Even if that hope is not realized, as now seems likely, scientific advances leading to a more refined...

As the most important driver of long-term project evaluation, from climate change policy to infrastructure investments, the social discount rate (SDR) has been subject to heated debate among economists. To uncover the extent and sources of disagreement, we report the results of a survey of over...

Written as a contribution to the Long Finance Meta-Commerce programme, this paper examines the way that discount rates are used for the evaluation and management of pension schemes.The authors describe the role and function of a discount rate, and critique the methods presently in use for...