ECO 3660. Benefit-Cost Analysis

Instructor: John Whitehead
e-mail:
[email protected]

Fall 2007 | Calendar

  Date Topic Notes
1 T, 8/21 Introduction  
2 R, 8/23 Chapters 1 (pp. 1-17) and 2 (pp. 26-33, 35-39, 41-46) The cost of a flood-free New Orleans; Assignment 1: follow the instructions here Building Interactive Economic Models With Excel and email me your spreadsheet by Thursday 8/28 at 5 pm. Feel free to work in groups.
3 T, 8/28 cont. Congressional Budget Office new document notification
4 R, 8/30 cont., Chapter 3 (pp. 51-61)  
5 T, 9/4 cont. Assignment 2: Boardman chapter 3, exercise 1 (p. 69) AND add a calculation of (a) CS, (b) PS, (c) own-price elasticity and (d) supply elasticity to Assignment 1 (due Tuesday 9/11 at 5 pm)
6 R, 9/6 No class: convocation  
7 T, 9/11 cont., Chapter 4 (pp. 73-98, 103-106) Assignment 3: Boardman chapter 3, exercise 2, gas demand problem, and Boardman chapter 4, exercise 2 (due Tuesday 9/18 at 5 pm)
8 R, 9/13 Chapter 4  
9 T, 9/18 Chapter 4, Chapter 5 (pp. 112-120) Assignment 4: (read pp. 98-103) #1: Boardman chapter 4, exercise 4 (parts a, b and "d, e") [hints], #2: A Bonner Bridge Question (due Tuesday 9/25 at 5 pm)
10 R, 9/20 Chapter 5 To this point we've discussed 3 BCA shortcuts.
11 T, 9/25 No class  
12 R, 9/27 Discounting: Chapter 6 (pp. 131-140, 145, 146-151), Chapter 10 (pp. 236-238, 247-253, 245-246, 258-261) Assignment 5: Boardman chapter 6, exercise 3, exercise 4 (due Thursday 10/4 at 5 pm)
13 T, 10/2 Discounting cont.  
14 R, 10/4 Discounting cont.  
15 T, 10/9 Exam #1 Draft Study Questions  
  R, 10/11 Fall Break  
16 T, 10/16 Uncertainty: Chapter 7 (pp. 165-171, 175-184) Final exam (80%): conduct a benefit-cost analysis of a federal project.
17 R, 10/18 Uncertainty, cont. Extension: Assignment 5 due Thursday 10/18 at 5 pm
18 T, 10/23 Demonstration Projects (pp. 279-285) Assignment #6 Due Thursday 10/25 at 5 pm
19 R, 10/25 Estimation of Demand (pp. 314-329, Appendix)  
20 T, 10/30 cont. Assignment #7: Due Thursday 11/1 at 5 pm
21 R, 11/1 Revealed Preference Methods  
22 T, 11/6 cont. Assignment #8: Due Thursday 11/15 at 5 pm. Here is the paper.
23 R, 11/8 cont.  
24 T, 11/13 cont.  
25 R, 11/15 Stated Preference Methods  
26 T, 11/20 No class  
  R, 11/22 Thanksgiving  
27 T, 11/27 cont.  
28 R, 11/29 Wrap-up: How accurate are benefit-cost analyses? Do they improve government policy-making? [Hahn, 1998; OMB, 2007; Graham, 2007] Sign up for an appointment with your professor about the final exam!
29 T, 12/4 No class  
  W, 12/5 Reading Day  
  T, 12/11 Final Exam 12:00 PM - 2:30 PM