Introduction: Benefit/Cost Analysis
Introduction: Benefit/Cost Analysis
- Deciding on which level of protection, cleanup, and conservation is best ultimately requires that we compare benefits and costs.
- Costs are frequently measured in monetary terms, while much of the benefits derived from improvements in the environment and human health that are not traded in markets, and so their value is not expressed in monetary terms.
- Thus a common metric is needed in order to compare the "apples and oranges" of benefits and costs.