The “social welfare function” (SWF) is a powerful tool that originates in theoretical welfare economics and has wide application in economic scholarship, for example in optimal tax theory and environmental economics. This Article provides a comprehensive introduction to the SWF framework. It...

In benefit-cost analysis, we accept that a future dollar is worth something less than a dollar today. However, we do not have a clear method to apply social discounting in retrospective benefit-cost analysis. In this note, we will first develop the case for using historical borrowing as the...

This paper argues that the consistent application of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) is likely to enhance the well-being of all. Thus, the justification for its use in policy making lies directly in the Pareto test. The Pareto justification stems from a decision-rule perspective across a portfolio...

Conventional approaches to cost benefit analysis, derived from social welfare maximization, suggest that it should ideally be adjusted to account for distributional effects. These approaches do not consider how tasks should be assigned within a large institution that includes specialized units...