Which elements are involved in benefit-cost analysis?

• A. Enumeration of benefits and costs, application of a discount rate, and a decision criterion
• B. Enumeration of costs only
• C. Discount rate only
• D. Experimental trials

Answer: (A)

Benefit-cost analysis weighs the total benefits against the total costs of a program by putting everything into a common, present-value framework and using a clear decision rule. You start by enumerating benefits and costs: identify all relevant effects, including health gains, lives saved, or disease cases avoided as benefits, and program costs, implementation expenses, and any potential negative impacts as costs. Then you apply a discount rate to future benefits and costs so that they’re expressed in present-value terms, recognizing that money today is worth more than money later. Finally, you use a decision criterion, such as net present value being positive or a benefit-cost ratio exceeding one (often with sensitivity analyses), to decide whether the intervention is worthwhile.

This combination—comprehensive listing of benefits and costs, discounting to account for time, and a clear decision rule—is what makes benefit-cost analysis. It’s not just about costs, nor only about discounting, and it isn’t about conducting experimental trials.