Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars
Policy-makers should perform a cost-benefit analysis before initiating a war. This article describes a methodology for such assessment, and applies it post hoc to five military actions undertaken by the United States between 1950 and 2000 (the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the invasion of Grenada, th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Statistics and Public Policy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2330443X.2019.1688740 |
| _version_ | 1828822426415267840 |
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| author | Diane Hu Andrew Cooper Neel Desai Sophie Guo Steven Shi David Banks |
| author_facet | Diane Hu Andrew Cooper Neel Desai Sophie Guo Steven Shi David Banks |
| author_sort | Diane Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Policy-makers should perform a cost-benefit analysis before initiating a war. This article describes a methodology for such assessment, and applies it post hoc to five military actions undertaken by the United States between 1950 and 2000 (the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the invasion of Grenada, the invasion of Panama, and the First Gulf War). The analysis identifies three broad categories of value: human capital, economic outcomes, and national influence. Different stakeholders (politicians, generals, industry, etc.) may assign different weights to these three categories, so this analysis tabulates each separately, and then, as may sometimes be necessary, monetizes them for unified comparison. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:14:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c5c79ea4c8b94c48b01f75e3c4b888f8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2330-443X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T13:14:53Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Statistics and Public Policy |
| spelling | doaj.art-c5c79ea4c8b94c48b01f75e3c4b888f82022-12-22T00:23:27ZengTaylor & Francis GroupStatistics and Public Policy2330-443X2019-01-01619810610.1080/2330443X.2019.16887401688740Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary WarsDiane Hu0Andrew Cooper1Neel Desai2Sophie Guo3Steven Shi4David Banks5Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke UniversityPolicy-makers should perform a cost-benefit analysis before initiating a war. This article describes a methodology for such assessment, and applies it post hoc to five military actions undertaken by the United States between 1950 and 2000 (the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the invasion of Grenada, the invasion of Panama, and the First Gulf War). The analysis identifies three broad categories of value: human capital, economic outcomes, and national influence. Different stakeholders (politicians, generals, industry, etc.) may assign different weights to these three categories, so this analysis tabulates each separately, and then, as may sometimes be necessary, monetizes them for unified comparison.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2330443X.2019.1688740cost-benefit analysisrisk analysisvalue of a statistical life |
| spellingShingle | Diane Hu Andrew Cooper Neel Desai Sophie Guo Steven Shi David Banks Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars Statistics and Public Policy cost-benefit analysis risk analysis value of a statistical life |
| title | Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars |
| title_full | Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars |
| title_fullStr | Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars |
| title_short | Cost-Benefit Analysis of Discretionary Wars |
| title_sort | cost benefit analysis of discretionary wars |
| topic | cost-benefit analysis risk analysis value of a statistical life |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2330443X.2019.1688740 |
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