A Bottom-up Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis
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A Bottom-up Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis. / Carolus, Johannes Friedrich; Hanley, Nick; Olsen, Søren Bøye; Pedersen, Søren Marcus.
University of St. Andrews, 2018.Research output: Working paper › Research
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TY - UNPB
T1 - A Bottom-up Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis
AU - Carolus, Johannes Friedrich
AU - Hanley, Nick
AU - Olsen, Søren Bøye
AU - Pedersen, Søren Marcus
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - Cost-Benefit Analysis is a method to assess the effects of policies and projects on social welfare. CBAs are usually applied in a top-down approach, in the sense that a decision-making body first decides on which policies or projects are to be considered, and then applies a set of uniform criteria to identifying and valuing relevant cost and benefit flows. This paper investigates the possible advantages, prerequisites and limitations of applying CBA in what may be considered an alternative, “bottom-up”. Instead of starting out with a pre-defined policy option, the suggested approach begins with the underlying environmental problem, and then assesses costs and benefits of various strategies and solutions suggested by local and directly affected stakeholders. For empirical case studies concerning two river catchments in Sweden and Latvia, the bottom-up CBA approach utilises local knowledge, assesses plans which are not only developed for local conditions but are also likely to be more acceptable to local society, and sheds additional light on possible distributional effects. By not only benefitting from, but also supporting participative environmental planning,bottom-up CBA is in line with the growing trend of embedding stakeholder participation into environmental policy and decision-making.
AB - Cost-Benefit Analysis is a method to assess the effects of policies and projects on social welfare. CBAs are usually applied in a top-down approach, in the sense that a decision-making body first decides on which policies or projects are to be considered, and then applies a set of uniform criteria to identifying and valuing relevant cost and benefit flows. This paper investigates the possible advantages, prerequisites and limitations of applying CBA in what may be considered an alternative, “bottom-up”. Instead of starting out with a pre-defined policy option, the suggested approach begins with the underlying environmental problem, and then assesses costs and benefits of various strategies and solutions suggested by local and directly affected stakeholders. For empirical case studies concerning two river catchments in Sweden and Latvia, the bottom-up CBA approach utilises local knowledge, assesses plans which are not only developed for local conditions but are also likely to be more acceptable to local society, and sheds additional light on possible distributional effects. By not only benefitting from, but also supporting participative environmental planning,bottom-up CBA is in line with the growing trend of embedding stakeholder participation into environmental policy and decision-making.
M3 - Working paper
T3 - Discussion Papers in Environment and Development Economics
BT - A Bottom-up Approach to Environmental Cost-Benefit Analysis
PB - University of St. Andrews
ER -
ID: 194804450