The world is increasingly concerned with bridging the developmental gap between the developed and developing countries. With the establishment of a number of institutions for funding the projects including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and many other agencies, the need to develop mechanisms to assess economically viable projects is more important than ever. The Social-Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) is an important technique used in formulating, appraising, and evaluating projects. It is a facet of applied welfare economics which is increasingly being used to identify and assess public projects in both developing and developed countries. This volume presents a comprehensive view of cost-benefit analysis in its theoretical and applied dimensions. Both theory and case studies are presented. The theoretical setting for Cost-Benefit Analysis is established by the first five chapters-"Spatial General Equilibrium and Cost-Benefit Analysis," by David M. Newbery; "Optimum Growth Theory and Social Time Preference: A Computerized Mathematical Modeling Exercise to Choose a Social Discount Rate," by Sardar M. N. Islam; "A Theoretical Inquiry of the Axiomatic Consistency of Distributional Weights used in Cost-Benefit Analysis," by Giuseppe Munda; "The Output Gap: Measurement, Related Concepts, and Policy Implications," by Parameswar Nandakumar; and "A Methodological Comparison of Theoretical Approaches in Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation," by John C. Whitehead. This book will be useful as a reference text by professors and students in project appraisal classes and will be of equal value to analysts, planners, and interested general readers.

The world is increasingly concerned with bridging the developmental gap between the developed and developing countries. With the establishment of a number of institutions for funding the projects including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and many other agencies, the need to develop mechanisms to assess economically viable projects is more important than ever. The Social-Cost Benefit Analysis (SCBA) is an important technique used in formulating, appraising, and evaluating projects. It is a facet of applied welfare economics which is increasingly being used to identify and assess public projects in both developing and developed countries. This volume presents a comprehensive view of cost-benefit analysis in its theoretical and applied dimensions. Both theory and case studies are presented. The theoretical setting for Cost-Benefit Analysis is established by the first five chapters-"Spatial General Equilibrium and Cost-Benefit Analysis," by David M. Newbery; "Optimum Growth Theory and Social Time Preference: A Computerized Mathematical Modeling Exercise to Choose a Social Discount Rate," by Sardar M. N. Islam; "A Theoretical Inquiry of the Axiomatic Consistency of Distributional Weights used in Cost-Benefit Analysis," by Giuseppe Munda; "The Output Gap: Measurement, Related Concepts, and Policy Implications," by Parameswar Nandakumar; and "A Methodological Comparison of Theoretical Approaches in Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation," by John C. Whitehead. This book will be useful as a reference text by professors and students in project appraisal classes and will be of equal value to analysts, planners, and interested general readers. K. Puttaswamaiah is the senior director, Planning Department, Government of Karnataka State, India. He has written or edited fourteen books. He is the founding editor of the Indian (now International) Journal of Applied Economics & Econometrics.

This Book deals with issues of efficient utilization of natural resources, land and trees particularly in dry land areas. Government of India implemented the farm Forestry Programme, a component of social Forestry Programme since 1980, to involve farms in tree plantation activities. Farm Forestry Programme was defined as the practice of forestry in all its aspects on farm or village land, generally integrated with other farm operation. It is a programme of planting of trees on bunds and boundaries of the fields of farmers and to be taken up by the farmers themselves. The Programme persuaded farmers to grow trees on farmlands, farm bunds and particularly in environmentally fragile areas, by distributing various tress species, which attracted large numbers of farmers in several states. Considering the widespread adoption of the farm forestry programme by farmers particularly in Karnataka, this study has examined the development of social and Farm Forestry in India, assessed the economics of tree crops cultivated on farm vis-a-vis annual crops by using rigorous project appraisal techniques and other analytical tools, examined labour utilization and income generation, marketing aspects, and also environmental issues raised against certain tree species such as eucalyptus planted by farmers. Economic and environmental analysis of tree cultivation by farmers illustrated the profitability and other benefits accrued by farmers. The Study suggests for promoting afforestation activities for efficient use and management of land and tree resources. The study will be useful for researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

In the developing world, people in rural areas are even poorer than city dwellers. Reducing the gap between city and country, even slightly, could greatly improve the quality of peoples lives. This collection of essays presents evidence from a variety of countries and backgrounds - India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Fiji, Brazil, Nigeria and Kenya are among the countries studied. It poses the question of whether peasant poverty is mainly a result of decisions made in the interests of cities and urban groups. The authors discuss the roles of both markets and governments in attempts to reduce income disparities.