Two Hypothetical Problems in Radioactive Waste Management: A Comparison of Cost/Benefit Analysis and Decision Analysis

摘要

In particular the presentation has argued that Decision Analysis (DA) has considerable advantages over Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), a view which may not be acceptable to practitioners of CBA. The criticism may be levelled that the authors have misinterpreted CBA in order to make their point. As mentioned above, however, the authors have taken a particular view of CBA in order to emphasize the distinction between an approach based in economics, and one based in psychology and management studies. Moreover many formal analyses of public policy today contain elements from both approaches, so that the distinction between CBA and DA may not be as clear-cut as indicated. There is however a basic difference of approach which it is hoped has been spelt out in the studies of chapters 2 and 3; the essential difference is between a device which seeks to determine what is socially best, in an objective manner, and a device to assist a group of decision-makers in clarifying their understanding of a complex decision problem.