Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions
This paper discusses the concept of trade-off analysis as an alternative to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in socio-technical decisions. The concept of trade-off analysis is not new, but increasing dissatisfaction with CBA as the centerpiece of decision analysis and concerns for Rawlsian equity warrant...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131181 |
| _version_ | 1826189950508335104 |
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| author | Hall, Ralph Ashford, Nicholas Söderbaum, Peter |
| author_facet | Hall, Ralph Ashford, Nicholas Söderbaum, Peter |
| author_sort | Hall, Ralph |
| collection | MIT |
| description | This paper discusses the concept of trade-off analysis as an alternative to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in socio-technical decisions. The concept of trade-off analysis is not new, but increasing dissatisfaction with CBA as the centerpiece of decision analysis and concerns for Rawlsian equity warrant its reintroduction into decision-making. As a decision-support tool, trade-off analysis [1] allows decision-makers to avoid monetizing and aggregating non-monetary factors over time; [2] invites the involvement of stakeholders into policy debates since there is greater transparency as to who benefits and who is harmed by a particular policy; [3] enables analysts to undertake a comparative analysis of alternatives over time; and [4] takes into account the important role of technological change in shaping the state and performance of a system. In addition, a revised Rawlsian approach to incorporating equity and environmental considerations into decision-making is advocated as a way of promoting sustainable development.
While the proposed framework has yet to be applied on a wide scale, the authors believe it approximates the way that decisions are actually made in the political system and holds the potential to assist with decision-making for sustainable development in a broad variety of contexts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:33:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/131181 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:33:03Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1311812021-08-14T03:32:16Z Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions Hall, Ralph Ashford, Nicholas Söderbaum, Peter This paper discusses the concept of trade-off analysis as an alternative to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in socio-technical decisions. The concept of trade-off analysis is not new, but increasing dissatisfaction with CBA as the centerpiece of decision analysis and concerns for Rawlsian equity warrant its reintroduction into decision-making. As a decision-support tool, trade-off analysis [1] allows decision-makers to avoid monetizing and aggregating non-monetary factors over time; [2] invites the involvement of stakeholders into policy debates since there is greater transparency as to who benefits and who is harmed by a particular policy; [3] enables analysts to undertake a comparative analysis of alternatives over time; and [4] takes into account the important role of technological change in shaping the state and performance of a system. In addition, a revised Rawlsian approach to incorporating equity and environmental considerations into decision-making is advocated as a way of promoting sustainable development. While the proposed framework has yet to be applied on a wide scale, the authors believe it approximates the way that decisions are actually made in the political system and holds the potential to assist with decision-making for sustainable development in a broad variety of contexts. 2021-08-13T14:53:41Z 2021-08-13T14:53:41Z 2008-02-20 Article https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131181 en_US Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/ application/msword |
| spellingShingle | Hall, Ralph Ashford, Nicholas Söderbaum, Peter Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions |
| title | Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions |
| title_full | Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions |
| title_fullStr | Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions |
| title_short | Trade-off Analysis (with a revised Rawlsian Decision-making Philosophy) as an Alternative to Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) in Socio-technical Decisions |
| title_sort | trade off analysis with a revised rawlsian decision making philosophy as an alternative to cost benefit analysis cba in socio technical decisions |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/131181 |
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