The paper provides a rigorous derivation of the "welfare triangle approximation" (WTA), which is at the center of cost benefit analysis. The result is generalized by showing that the WTA is one of two dual expressions, one of which approximates the change in real consumption, the other the...

In a trade model with technology transfer, Kabiraj and Kabiraj (2017) showed that a tariff on foreign products could induce fee licensing (with zero royalty) and maximize both consumers’ surplus and domestic welfare. In this paper, we show that if the foreign firm subsidizes the domestic...

Market provision of impure public goods such as insurance retirement savings and education is common and growing as policy makers seek to offer more choice and gain efficiencies. This approach induces an important trade-off between improved surplus from matching individuals to products and...