Is cost-benefit analysis a morally defensible technique for making decisions in business? Questions around the use of cost-benefit analysis as a tool in the decision making process in business have become even more relevant in the past decade with the increase in cost cutting and productivity enhancing pressures brought on by increased global competition. If cost-benefit analysis is to be used in this way, then it is advisable to thoroughly understand its limitations and recognize …showed first 75 words of 1849 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1849 total…and DeLong. I accept from Kelman’s work the criticisms of cost-benefit analysis, but rather than discarding the tool as useless, I would prefer to see it refined, as well as applied in a reasonable fashion. Above all, this means that it must be recognized for what it is – a tool with powerful applications and significant limitations. As such it should never be relied on as providing the greatest or only arguments for a decision.