Improving the Regulatory Analysis of the Cooling Water Intake Structure Rule: What Does an Economist Want?

As part of an edited volume devoted to the usefulness of benefit-cost analysis to inform regulatory review, this chapter presents a case study of the regulation of cooling water intake structures (CWIS) at existing power plants. The chapter first focuses on the consistency of the CWIS benefit-cost analysis with quality criteria to which the agency might have been expected to adhere. Second, criteria and outcomes with respect to decision rules for the selected alternatives are investigated. Finally, the challenge faced by agency analysis is described due to the difficulty in linking ecological and economic impacts. Suggestions for improvement are noted. As of the date of writing, the regulation is under review by the Supreme Court.Water, regulation, benefit-cost

Incorporating Equity in Regulatory and Benefit-Cost Analysis Using Risk Based Preferences

Governmental guidance for regulatory and benefit-cost analysis is targeted for applied analysts. Existing Federal guidance recommends sensitivity analysis in general without being specific regarding the implicit distributional assumptions of standard benefit-cost analysis. Recommendations for Federal guidance are developed to: 1) better communicate expectations for distributional analysis, 2) develop guidance for descriptive statistics related to distributional issues, and 3) integrate Government published measures of inequality aversion and to evaluate compensation for identified sensitive populations. While such actions have a data collection and analysis cost, they may make the results of regulatory analysis more relevant by investigating both efficiency and equity measures.benefit, risk, equity, distribution, income

Improving Regulatory Performance: Does Executive Office Oversight Matter?

Executive Office review and oversight of proposed federal regulations have been a bipartisan action of presidents and some governors. Proposals for regulatory improvement regularly highlight the role of benefit-cost analysis in this process. Supporters argue that the purpose of a benefit-cost review is to improve the social (net) benefits of implemented regulations. The evaluation question is whether Executive Office review has actually improved performance. This paper uses information on the status of regulations and their estimated economic impact to determine if Executive Office review has changed the outcome in different Administrations. The study is based on cost-effectiveness data that have had a large role in the debate about regulation and while an extensive critique of the data exists, its issues are addressed. The results indicate that while Executive Office review is associated with rejecting some regulations that would have been economically inefficient, such review appears to have no efficiency improving impact on the difference between proposed and final regulations or on the cost effectiveness of regulations that are implemented.

The Benefit-Cost Analysis of Security Focused Regulations

Security focused regulations have been largely exempt from the benefit-cost type of analysis required for major Federal regulations and done routinely in areas such as transportation, environment and safety. among the reasons offered for exemption are the analytical difficulties of security issues involving complex or poorly understood probabilities and consequences. This paper investigates the magnitude of security focused regulations, a framework for developing an expected costs analysis of regulations, and the current "break-even" analysis used by the Department of Homeland Security. Key assumptions implicit in the current analysis are identified and suggestions are made for the difficult evolution of security regulations toward a more explicit benefit-cost analysis.Benefit-cost, homeland security, regulation

Are There Net State Social Benefits or Costs from Legalizing Slot Machine Gambling?

The estimated impacts, benefits, and costs of legalizing slot machines in Maryland are analyzed. The analysis provides insight into the components and the total net benefits to the state and its citizens, the role of uncertainty, distributional impacts, and a basic tax alternative. The results forecast net benefits for Maryland both in comparison to doing nothing and in comparison to raising an equivalent amount in taxes. However, if revenue raised from the lower income population has a higher social cost, then doing nothing or raising taxes appears preferred.benefit-cost, gambling, regional, slots

Using Environmental Benefit-Cost Analysis to Improve Government Performance

In this paper we first describe the legal and administrative basis of mandates that variously require and eschew economic measures for environmental management. We then summarize the steps involved in benefit-cost analysis and what can and cannot be accomplished with such information. Our basic conclusion is that while the approach is not perfect, benefit-cost analysis has a solid methodological footing and provides a valuable performance measure for an important governmental function, improving the well-being of society. However, benefit-cost analysis requires analytical judgements which, if done poorly, can obfuscate an issue or worse, provide a refuge for scoundrels in the policy debate. We conclude the paper with specific suggestions for both the everyday performance of benefit-cost analysis and its use in policy decision-making.

Comparing multistate expected damages, option price and cumulative prospect measures for valuing flood protection

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Water Resources Research 49 (2013): 2638–2648, doi:10.1002/wrcr.20217.Floods are risky events ranging from small to catastrophic. Although expected flood damages are frequently used for economic policy analysis, alternative measures such as option price (OP) and cumulative prospect value exist. The empirical magnitude of these measures whose theoretical preference is ambiguous is investigated using case study data from Baltimore City. The outcome for the base case OP measure increases mean willingness to pay over the expected damage value by about 3%, a value which is increased with greater risk aversion, reduced by increased wealth, and only slightly altered by higher limits of integration. The base measure based on cumulative prospect theory is about 46% less than expected damages with estimates declining when alternative parameters are used. The method of aggregation is shown to be important in the cumulative prospect case which can lead to an estimate up to 41% larger than expected damages. Expected damages remain a plausible and the most easily computed measure for analysts.Appreciation is also extended to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for funding

Slot Machine Payback Percentages: The Devil is in the Moment

The average payback percentage from slot machines is important to gamblers, casinos and governments.  While apparently simple to define several complications can exist, among them which measure to average and potentially misleading formulas to calculate the average.  Daily slot machine data from the state of Maryland for 19 months are analyzed for the expected value of the average payback ratio per machine and per dollar gambled.  On a per dollar gambled basis, the payback percentage meets legislative requirements that the gaming floor payback be at least 90 percent. On a per machine basis, that requirement is not met which can imply a significant shift of money from gamblers to casino operators and the state. Other payback measures are hypothesized to also be less than the per-dollar gambled measure but data are lacking

Functional diversity of 2-oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenases in plant metabolism

Oxidative enzymes catalyze many different reactions in plant metabolism. Among this suite of enzymes are the 2-oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenases (2-ODDs). Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) as often considered the most versatile oxidative enzymes in nature, but the diversity and complexity of reactions catalyzed by 2-ODDs is superior to the CYPs. The list of oxidative reactions catalyzed by 2-ODDs includes hydroxylations, demethylations, desaturations, ring closure, ring cleavage, epimerization, rearrangement, halogenation, and demethylenation. Furthermore, recent work, including the discovery of 2-ODDs involved in epigenetic regulation, and others catalyzing several characteristic steps in specialized metabolic pathways, support the argument that 2-ODDs are among the most versatile and important oxidizing biological catalysts. In this review, we survey and summarize the pertinent literature with a focus on several key reactions catalyzed by 2-ODDs, and discuss the significance and impact of these enzymes in plant metabolism

Escaping the inactive classroom: Escape Rooms for teaching technology

Free Ed was a one-hour fun and interactive hands on Bring Your Own Device workshop which explored the functions necessary to build collaborative classrooms using Microsoft Teams. This paper is intended to give you an insight into the pedagogy and technology used in creating the Free Ed workshop delivered at Social Media in HE (SocMedHE) conference, which utilised an Escape Room to deliver Microsoft Teams teaching. This paper aims to give you an insight into the workshop itself, what participants thought, reflections on delivering the session and finally, some key points for you to take forward if you would like to try this yourself