The Social Discount Rate: Legal and Philosophical Underpinnings

IF 5 3区 经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE Annual Review of Financial Economics Pub Date : 2023-11-01 DOI:10.1146/annurev-financial-121721-022421
W. Kip Viscusi
{"title":"The Social Discount Rate: Legal and Philosophical Underpinnings","authors":"W. Kip Viscusi","doi":"10.1146/annurev-financial-121721-022421","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Discounting of deferred impacts of government policies is a long-established practice that has been the target of substantial litigation and continued philosophical debate. Legal challenges to the social rate of discount have resulted in general acceptance of the principle of discounting at a nonzero rate for both monetary and nonmonetary impacts. Courts have displayed a general familiarity with discounting and often require transparent justification for the selection of the discount rate based on established scientific principles. The philosophical issues are more wide-ranging and include whether nonmonetary impacts should be discounted, the use of the opportunity cost of capital or the social rate of time preference, the time frame that is pertinent for setting the discount rate, and determination of whose preferences should have standing. Intergenerational issues are particularly challenging, raising questions regarding which generation's preferences should be recognized, the potential for dynamic inconsistencies arising from preferential discount rates, and intertemporal inequities. Benefit-cost analyses that include appropriate recognition of benefits and costs for future generations serve a constructive function in providing a mechanism for recognizing future effects on social welfare.","PeriodicalId":47162,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Financial Economics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annual Review of Financial Economics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-financial-121721-022421","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1

Abstract

Discounting of deferred impacts of government policies is a long-established practice that has been the target of substantial litigation and continued philosophical debate. Legal challenges to the social rate of discount have resulted in general acceptance of the principle of discounting at a nonzero rate for both monetary and nonmonetary impacts. Courts have displayed a general familiarity with discounting and often require transparent justification for the selection of the discount rate based on established scientific principles. The philosophical issues are more wide-ranging and include whether nonmonetary impacts should be discounted, the use of the opportunity cost of capital or the social rate of time preference, the time frame that is pertinent for setting the discount rate, and determination of whose preferences should have standing. Intergenerational issues are particularly challenging, raising questions regarding which generation's preferences should be recognized, the potential for dynamic inconsistencies arising from preferential discount rates, and intertemporal inequities. Benefit-cost analyses that include appropriate recognition of benefits and costs for future generations serve a constructive function in providing a mechanism for recognizing future effects on social welfare.
查看原文
分享 分享
微信好友 朋友圈 QQ好友 复制链接
本刊更多论文
社会贴现率:法律和哲学基础
贴现政府政策的递延影响是一项由来已久的做法,一直是大量诉讼和持续的哲学辩论的目标。对社会贴现率的法律挑战导致了对货币和非货币影响的非零利率贴现率原则的普遍接受。法院已经对折现率表现出普遍的熟悉,并且经常要求根据既定的科学原则对折现率的选择提供透明的理由。哲学问题更为广泛,包括非货币影响是否应该折现,资本机会成本或社会时间偏好率的使用,与设定折现率相关的时间框架,以及确定谁的偏好应该具有地位。代际问题尤其具有挑战性,提出了以下问题:应承认哪一代人的偏好、优惠贴现率可能引起动态不一致以及跨期不平等。效益-成本分析包括对后代的效益和成本的适当认识,在提供一种认识未来对社会福利的影响的机制方面具有建设性的作用。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 去求助
来源期刊
CiteScore
5.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
26
期刊最新文献
Nonbank Financial Intermediation: Stock Take of Research, Policy, and Data Default and Bankruptcy Resolution in China Pari-Mutuel Betting Markets: Racetracks and Lotteries Revisited Corporate Social Responsibility Sovereign Debt Puzzles
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
现在去查看 取消
×
提示
确定
0
微信
客服QQ
Book学术公众号 扫码关注我们
反馈
×
意见反馈
请填写您的意见或建议
请填写您的手机或邮箱
已复制链接
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
×
扫码分享
扫码分享
Book学术官方微信
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术
文献互助 智能选刊 最新文献 互助须知 联系我们:info@booksci.cn
Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。
Copyright © 2023 Book学术 All rights reserved.
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号 京ICP备2023020795号-1