Cost-Benefit Analyses of Transportation Investments
Neither critical nor realistic
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21159694 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Petter Næ (0000-0001-8571-8326, corresponding author), Petter Naess |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 32-60 |
| Publication date | 2006-04-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Critical Realism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1476-7430 • E-ISSN: 1572-5138 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1558/jocr.v5i1.32 |
| OpenAlex | W1500063442 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
This paper discusses the practice of cost-benefit analyses of transportation infrastructure investment projects from the meta-theoretical perspective of critical realism. Such analyses are based on a number of untenable ontological assumptions about social value, human nature and the natural environment. In addition, main input data are based on transport modelling analyses based on a misleading 'local ontology' among the model makers. The ontological misconceptions translate into erroneous epistemological assumptions about the possibility of precise predictions and the validity of willingness-to-pay investigations. Accepting the ontological and epistemological assumptions of cost-benefit analysis involves an implicit acceptance of the ethical and political values favoured by these assumptions. Cost-benefit analyses of transportation investment projects tend to neglect long-term environmental consequences and needs among population groups with a low ability to pay. Instead of cost-benefit analyses, impact analyses evaluating the likely effects of project alternatives against a wide range of societal goals is recommended, with quantification and economic valorisation only for impact categories where this can be done in an ontologically and epistemologically defensible way
Business · Cost–benefit analysis · Economics · Epistemology · Neglect · Ontology · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Realism · Sociology · Complex Systems and Decision Making · Economic Theory and Institutions · Psychology
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| Citations per year | 1.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2026 (12) |
| Highly cited | No |