Putting Cost-Benefit Analysis in its Place: Rethinking Regulatory Review

University of Miami Law Review, Winter 2011

Yale Law & Economics Research Paper No. 417

32 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2010 Last revised: 10 Dec 2010

Date Written: November 15, 2010

Abstract

Policymakers need to reassess the role of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in regulatory review. Although it remains a valuable tool, a number of pressing current problems do not fit well into the CBA paradigm. In particular, climate change, nuclear accident risks, and the preservation of biodiversity can have very long-run impacts that may produce catastrophic and irreversible effects. This article seeks to put cost-benefit analysis in its place by demonstrating both its strengths and its limitations. The Obama Administration should rethink the use of CBA as a way to evaluate regulatory policies and develop procedures to restrict its use to policy areas where its underlying assumptions fit the nature of the problem.

Suggested Citation

Rose-Ackerman, Susan, Putting Cost-Benefit Analysis in its Place: Rethinking Regulatory Review (November 15, 2010). University of Miami Law Review, Winter 2011, Yale Law & Economics Research Paper No. 417, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1709572

Susan Rose-Ackerman (Contact Author)

Yale Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
542
Abstract Views
1,567
Rank
94,162
PlumX Metrics