2009 Benefit-Cost Analysis Conference


Unleashing the Power of Social Benefit-Cost Analysis: Removing Barriers

Sponsored by the Benefit-Cost Analysis Center at the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Affairs and funded by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The conference summary of the Unleashing the Power of Social Benefit-Cost Analysis:  Removing Barriers conference is now available.  This summary, compiled by Benefit-Cost Analysis Center staff, summarizes the proceedings of the conference and highlights main points of presentation and discussion.  A shorter document, summarizing the conference highights and future directions of the field, is also available.   

 

October 19-20, 2009
Washington Court Hotel, Washington, D.C.

This national policy forum examined the role of benefit-cost analysis (BCA) in social policy-making and highlighted the new opportunities presented by recent uses of benefit-cost analysis in social arenas. The conference also aimed to develop strategies for making benefit-cost analysis more practical, consistent, and implementable within the social policy fields.  Leading scholars, practitioners, lawyers, and policy-makers shared ideas about the implementation of benefit-cost analysis techniques and procedures. Conference participants offered advice about strategies to improve the quality of social BCA and increase its use to strengthen social policies and programs at all levels of government.

Agenda

Day 1: Monday, October 19

7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Registration / Check-in; Continental Breakfast

8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Welcome Remarks

9:00 - 10:30 a.m. Barriers to the Use of Benefit-Cost Analysis and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis in Public Health and Medical Decisionmaking

  • Panel Chair: Mark Pauly, University of Pennsylvania
  • John E. Calfee, American Enterprise Institute
  • Peter Neumann, Tufts University School of Medicine

10:30 - 10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 - 12:15 p.m. Barriers to the Valuation of Health Outcomes in Benefit-Cost Analysis and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

  • Panel Chair: Lisa Robinson, Independent Consultant
  • Dean T. Jamison, University of Washington
  • James Hammitt, Harvard University
  • Joseph Lipscomb, Emory University
  • Trudy Ann Cameron, University of Oregon

12:15 - 1:15 Lunch

1:15 - 2:45 p.m. Behavioral Approaches to Policy

  • Panel Chair: Michael Stegman, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • Eldar Shafir, Princeton University
  • Hunt Allcott, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Sendhil Mullainathan, Harvard University

2:45 - 3:00 p.m. Break

3:00 - 4:30 p.m. Use of Benefit-Cost Information in Education Policy: Barriers and Opportunities

  • Panel Chair: V. Kerry Smith, Arizona State University
  • (Organized by W. Steven Barnett, Rutgers University and National Institute for Early Education Research)
  • Clive Belfield, Queens College
  • Tom Lamb, PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
  • Michael Rebell, Columbia University
  • Al Lindseth, Sutherland Asbill and Brennan LLP

6:30 - 9:30 Dinner at Zola

Day 2: Tuesday, October 20

7:15 - 8:00 Check-in; Continental Breakfast

8:00 - 9:30 p.m. Estimating the Willingness to Pay of the American Public for Childhood Poverty Reduction

  • Panel Chair: Dale Whittington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Manchester Business School
  • Panel Co-Chair: F. Reed Johnson, Research Triangle Institute
  • V. Kerry Smith, Arizona State University
  • Vic Adamowicz, University of Alberta
  • Glenn W. Harrison, Georgia State University

9:30 - 11:00 a.m. Extending the Shadow Prices Available for BCA of Social Programs Findings

  • Panel Chair: Lynn Karoly, RAND Corporation
  • Rosalie Pacula, RAND Corporation
  • Paul Heaton, RAND Corporation
  • Mark Cohen, Resources for the Future

11:00 -11:15 a.m. Break

11:15 - 12:45 p.m. Barriers to Policymakers’ Use of Rigorous Research and Benefit-Cost Findings

  • Panel Chair: Jon Baron, Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy
  • Daniel Cole, Indiana University-Indianapolis
  • Grover "Russ" Whitehurst, The Brookings Institution
  • Michael Greenstone, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

12:45 - 2:00 p.m. Luncheon with special keynote speaker: Michael Weinstein
Senior Vice President of the Robin Hood Foundation
Former economics columnist for The New York Times
Presenting "A Private Grant Maker’s Relentless, Unapologetic Use of Benefit-Cost Analysis"
 

This conference was immediately followed by the 2009 Annual Meeting and Conference of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis, in the same location.  

Find out more about draft papers for principles and standards for using benefit-cost analysis and the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis. For more information, contact us at bcac@uw.edu or 206.616.4090.