Discussion Papers no. 169

Some Norwegian politicians' use of cost-benefit analysis

Members of the Norwegian Parliament were interviewed about the decision process concerning national road investments. Most of them found cost-benefit analysis useful, but apparently not as a device for ranking projects. Rather, the cost-benefit ratio was used to pick project proposals requiring political attention among the large number of projects included in the plan. However, information about project-related local conflicts seemed to be used much more extensively for this latter purpose. Attitudes towards cost-benefit analysis varied along the left-right political axis. These findings are shown to be consistent with a hypothesis that politicians rationally maximize subjective perceptions of social welfare.

Om publikasjonen

Tittel

Some Norwegian politicians' use of cost-benefit analysis

Ansvarlig

Karine Nyborg

Serie og -nummer

Discussion Papers no. 169

Utgiver

Statistics Norway, Research department

Emne

Discussion Papers

Antall sider

35

Målform

Engelsk

Om Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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