Economists have long argued for economic principles to play a major role in pollution control as the most efficient way to achieve goals. To date, there has been limited use of such principles for several reasons including the difficulty of placing a value on intangibles such as environmental quality or, specifically in this case, clean water. However, as financial resources have become more limited, some thought is being given to fuller use of marginal (as opposed to total) benefit-cost analysis as a component rather than the absolute arbiter in evaluating environmental improvements. The present paper explores some of the background for such an analysis, areas where data exist, where they are needed and draws information from the state of Massachusetts for a case example. The results suggest that overall in the United States and in Massachusetts specifically, a point of economic inefficiency may be near based on available tools. However, existing tools are likely to be deficient and protocols for assessing benefits as well as costs need to be verified and a consensus reached on their use; also, the pertinent data need to be collected before great reliance is placed on benefit-cost techniques as a principal component in decision making.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
December 01 1998
Costs and benefits of water quality: Massachusetts as a case example
Water Sci Technol (1998) 38 (11): 15–21.
Citation
Russell A. Isaac; Costs and benefits of water quality: Massachusetts as a case example. Water Sci Technol 1 December 1998; 38 (11): 15–21. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.1998.0426
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Impact Factor 2.430
CiteScore 3.4 • Q2
13 days submission to first
decision
1,439,880 downloads in 2021
30
Views
0
Citations