Values, preferences, and the citizen-consumer distinction in cost-benefit analysis
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7354181 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shepley Orr (University College London, corresponding author), Shepley W Orr (University College London, UK,) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 107-130 |
| Publication date | 2007-01-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Politics Philosophy & Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1470-594X • E-ISSN: 1741-3060 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1470594x07068306 |
| OpenAlex | W1982348124 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 2 |
This article examines criticisms of cost-benefit analysis and the contingent valuation method from methodological and moral philosophical perspectives. Both perspectives argue that what should be elicited for public decisions are attitudes or values, not preferences, and that respondents should be treated as citizens and not consumers. The moral philosophical criticism argues in favour of deliberative approaches over cost-benefit analysis. The methodological perspective is here criticized for overemphasizing the importance of protest responses and anomalies and biases in contingent valuation, and for failing to provide the necessary information needed to make public decisions over the allocation of scarce goods. The moral philosophical perspective is criticized for: failing to provide criteria for distinguishing between values and preferences, assuming impartiality requires expression of values and not preferences; failing to recognize the diversity of forms of expression of values, including expression of values through monetary evaluation; and assuming that cost-benefit analysis is necessarily an implementation of a utilitarian political philosophy. The article concludes by showing that deliberative decision-making mechanisms can be overly demanding on citizens, and argues for greater openness in the potential moral justifications of cost-benefit analysis
Contingent valuation · Cost–benefit analysis · Criticism · Deliberation · Economics · Epistemology · Expression (computer science · Impartiality · Law and economics · Microeconomics · Openness to experience · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public good · Sociology · Valuation (finance · Willingness to pay · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2008 - 2024 (17) |
| Highly cited | No |