Discounting for Time and Risk in Energy Policy

Robert C. Lind, Kenneth J. Arrow, Gordon R. Corey, Partha Dasgupta, Amartya K. Sen, Thomas Staufer, Joseph E. Stigiltz, J.A. Stockfisch

'This book should prove valuable for the individual interested in the technical aspects of discounting for energy project selection as well as for the reader wanting only a general overview of the topic. It has a wide application for not only the researcher, but also for use in the college classroom and the policy making arena...very comprehensive coverage of the issues involved in the selection of a discount rate for investment decisions.' Water Resources Bulletin

• 1: Introduction; 2: A Primer on the Major Issues Relating to the Discount Rate for Evaluating National Energy Options; 3: A Reader's Guide to the Papers in this Volume; 4: The Rate of Discount on Public Investments with Imperfect Capital Markets; Comment; Comment; 5: The Rate of Discount for Benefit—Cost Analysis and the Theory of the Second Best; 6: Risk Measurement of Public Projects; 6a: Comment; 7: Measuring the Social Rate of Return on Private Investment; 8: Resource Depletion, Research and Development, and the Social Rate of Discount; Comment; Comment; Comment; Comment; 9: Approaches to the Choice of Discount Rates for Social Benefit–Cost Analysis; Comment; Comment; Comment; 10: Plant Investment Decision Making in the Electric Power Industry; 10a: Comment; 11: The Social Efficiency of Electric Utility Decision Criteria; 12: The Rate of Discount and the Application of Social Benefit–Cost Analysis in the Context of Energy Policy Decisions