Book Review: Introduction to Cost–Benefit Analysis: Looking for Reasonable Shortcuts
Abstract
JPEspjpeJournal of Planning Education and Research0739-456X1552-6577SAGE PublicationsSage CA: Los Angeles, CA10.1177/0739456X1142295610.1177_0739456X11422956ReviewsBook Review: Introduction to Cost–Benefit Analysis: Looking for Reasonable ShortcutsKelekarUmaGeorge Mason University32012321118120de RusGinesIntroduction to Cost–Benefit Analysis: Looking for Reasonable Shortcuts. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2010. pp. $115 (hardback). ISBN 978-1-84844-852-0© Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning 20122012Association of Collegiate Schools of PlanningIn Introduction to Cost–Benefit Analysis: Looking for Reasonable Shortcuts, Gines de Rus provides the conceptual foundations of a cost–benefit analysis undertaken for public investments. The financial feasibility of private projects is analyzed by comparing private revenues with private costs. A cost–benefit analysis of public projects, in contrast, is determined by its social profitability. Gines documents some reasonable shortcuts in doing so. The fundamentals and methods of a cost–benefit analysis, presented in this book, are based on the simplistic assumption that a social planner, that is, the government, is guided by the objective of increasing the social welfare by implementing public projects.This book serves well as an introductory textbook for courses in urban planning, public economics, and policy and program evaluation for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Although this book may be too technical for policy practitioners, economists may find it useful as a guide