A Critique of the Productivity Commission's Cost-Benefit Analysis in the 'Disability Care and Support' Report

Mark Harrison

Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, 2013, vol. 20, issue 2, 77-88

Abstract: In its 2011 NDIS report, the Productivity Commission rationalises its policy recommendation by means of a cost-benefit analysis, claiming that 'the benefits of the [National Disability Insurance] scheme would significantly outweigh the costs'. But methodology the PC adopts departs from conventional cost-benefit analysis in ways that understates costs, presumes the benefits, muddies policy comparisons, and jumbles equity and efficiency issues. These problems are traceable to the Commission's use of a 'distributional weights approach' to equity benefits. The 'basic needs approach' is an alternative way of dealing with equity considerations that better captures the underlying preferences of citizens and the rationale for disability care and support policies.

Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p269601/pdf/a-critique.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:acb:agenda:v:20:y:2013:i:2:p:77-88

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform from Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().