Abstract
Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) is typically portrayed as a technique for promoting efficiency in government. We don’t deny that CBA can be used in this manner, but instead focus on a different property of CBA, namely, its evolution from scholarly musings into a framing institution within which budgetary processes operate. The evolution of CBA into institutional status, moreover, shows the value of bringing a polyarchical perspective to bear on fiscal organization, wherein budgetary outcomes emerge through structured interaction among participants. CBA is a product of interaction within a political ecology, as distinct from being the product of some person’s optimizing choice.
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Makowsky, M.D., Wagner, R.E. From scholarly idea to budgetary institution: the emergence of cost-benefit analysis. Const Polit Econ 20, 57–70 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10602-008-9051-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10602-008-9051-7