ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of three very common tools used to support decision making: Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA), forecasting, and gap analysis. BCA is used to estimate the value of the benefits and costs, over time, for a potential project, or a change in some policy, in order to establish whether the project or policy change is beneficial overall. Project benefits are provided mainly through an analysis by a planning unit in Maggieville County. The interpretation of this BCA has a slight degree of ambiguity—at least theoretically. Very common for BCA is use of willingness to pay or willingness to accept concepts in monetizing those things lacking a market price. Willingness to pay measures the maximum amount an individual is willing to pay to acquire a good or some specific benefit. Willingness to accept measures the minimum amount an individual is willing to accept to forego a good or service.
