Investing in the Disadvantaged : Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Social Policies

Weimer, David Leo (EDT); Vining, Aidan R. (EDT)

ISBN 10: 1589012577 / ISBN 13: 9781589012578

Published by Georgetown University Press, 2009

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6177633-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Investing in the Disadvantaged : Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Social Policies
• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1589012577
• ISBN 13: 9781589012578
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

With budgets squeezed at every level of government, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) holds outstanding potential for assessing the efficiency of many programs. In this first book to address the application of CBA to social policy, experts examine ten of the most important policy domains: early childhood development, elementary and secondary schools, health care for the disadvantaged, mental illness, substance abuse and addiction, juvenile crime, prisoner reentry programs, housing assistance, work-incentive programs for the unemployed and employers, and welfare-to-work interventions. Each contributor discusses the applicability of CBA to actual programs, describing both proven and promising examples.

The editors provide an introduction to cost-benefit analysis, assess the programs described, and propose a research agenda for promoting its more widespread application in social policy. Investing in the Disadvantaged considers how to face America's most urgent social needs with shrinking resources, showing how CBA can be used to inform policy choices that produce social value.

About the Author

David L. Weimer is professor of public affairs and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former president of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. Aidan R. Vining is CNABS Professor of Business and Government Relations at Simon Fraser University. David L. Weimer and Aidan R. Vining are coauthors of Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice, now in its fourth edition.