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On Criteria for Evaluating Social Programs

Author

Listed:
  • Jorge Luis García
  • James J. Heckman

Abstract

This paper examines the economic foundations of some recently proposed criteria for evaluating the benefits of social programs. These criteria are appropriate for comparing a class of revenue-constant policies. They replace foundational principles of social opportunity costs with accounting conventions from the point of view of government bureaucrats. They do not address the question of social optimality associated with programs that expand or contract the government budget.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman, 2022. "On Criteria for Evaluating Social Programs," NBER Working Papers 30005, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30005
    Note: PE
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    Cited by:

    1. Dalla-Zuanna, Antonio & Liu, Kai, 2025. "Using the MVPF to Allocate Treatment Under Imperfect Compliance and Supply-Side Constraints," IZA Discussion Papers 18259, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Benjamin Collier & Sabrina T. Howell & Lea Rendell, 2024. "After the Storm: How Emergency Liquidity Helps Small Businesses Following Natural Disasters," Working Papers 24-20, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    3. Spencer Bastani, 2025. "The marginal value of public funds: a brief guide and application to tax policy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 32(4), pages 919-956, August.
    4. Bastani, Spencer, 2023. "The marginal cost of public funds: A brief guide," Working Paper Series 2023:14, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis

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