RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Incommensurability and Monetary Valuation
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 141
OP 161
DO 10.3368/le.82.2.141
VO 82
IS 2
A1 Jonathan Aldred
YR 2006
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/82/2/141.abstract
AB At the very heart of environmental cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is the claim that benefits and costs can be expressed in terms of money and hence made comparable. In particular, CBA puts all benefits and costs on a cardinal, monetary scale: it assumes monetary commensurability. A significant literature in ethics and political philosophy has arisen which doubts this assumption, but has so far had little impact on the theory or practice of CBA. In light of this, the paper assesses the defense of monetary commensurability offered by cost-benefit analysts and the wider economics literature. (JEL Q51)