The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis

The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (the "Society"), founded in 2007, is an international group of practitioners, academics, and others who are working to improve the theory and application of the tools of benefit-cost analysis. Although these tools have gained wide acceptance in many countries, ongoing work is needed to continue to improve the tools, their application, and the institutional settings in which they are applied. 

This work becomes even more essential as agencies experience increasing demands to use evidence-based decisions to improve decision-making, highlighting the role benefit-cost analysis tools play in this process for governments and others.

Support for the founding and initial years of the Society was provided by the Benefit-Cost Analysis Center at the Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington. The Center is generously supported by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The Society has adopted the following primary goals:

1. Bring together individuals from diverse disciplines and from different countries and provide them opportunities to foster collaboration and exchange information, ideas, and methodologies related to the practice and theory of benefit-cost analysis and applied welfare economics;
2. Encourage applications of benefit-cost analysis and applied welfare economics, and promote dialogue between practitioners and others who are interested in benefit-cost analysis;
3. Facilitate the development and dissemination of knowledge about benefit-cost and applied welfare analysis methods and their applications;
4. Develop and update standards of practice for benefit-cost analysis and applied welfare economics; and
5. Foster methods to improve communication and consideration of benefit-cost methods and results

Activities of the Society include presenting our annual conferences, producing the acclaimed Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, furthering a multi-year effort to outline overall principles and standards for benefit-cost analysis, and continuously expanding our international community of scholars and practitioners spanning academia, nonprofit organizations, and government. Activities are carried out by the members and elected Board of Directors.