Applied Welfare Economics: Cost-Benefit Analysis of Projects and Policies (Routledge Advanced Texts in Economics and Finance)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.57 (818 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0415858313 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 438 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-01-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
About the Author Massimo Florio is Professor of Public Economics and Jean Monnet Chair “Ad personam” of EU Industrial Policy at the University of Milan, Italy
Massimo Florio is Professor of Public Economics and Jean Monnet Chair “Ad personam” of EU Industrial Policy at the University of Milan, Italy
This book explains how to apply these welfare economics ideas to the real world. The experience chapters draw from first hand research, gained by the Author and his collaborators over many years of advisory work for the European Commission and other international and national institutions.. The theoretical discussion clarifies why shadow prices are not virtual market equilibrium prices, as they arise as the solution of a planning problem, often with governments and economic agents constrained in their information and powers. The price we observe are often misleading as welfare signals, and costs and benefits for the society should be based on ‘shadow prices’, revealing the social opportunity costs of goods and of changes of the world. This includes the empirical estimation of shadow prices of goods, of the social cost of labour and capital, the assessment of risk. After a theoretical discussion of the concept of social welfare, a critical analysis of the traditional doctrine of welfare economics embodied in the Two Fundamental Theorems, and a presentation of social cost-benefit analysis, the book introduce the readers to an applied framework. What is the effect of a new infrastructure on the well-being of a local community? Is a tax reform desirable? Does the privatization of a telecommunication provider increase social welfare? To answer these questions governments and their policy advisors should have in mind an operative