Evaluation of the Application of Economic Analysis and Cost-Benefit Analysis Tools in the DOD Environment

摘要

This thesis reviews the application of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in the Department of Defense (DOD) and the software and automated tools used in these applications. The thesis focuses on the analytic capabilities of the software and tools as applied to cost-benefit analysis problems in the DOD environment. The principles of cost-benefit analysis are used to evaluate the utility of the existing software applied to DOD cost-benefit analyses. The research identifies the cost-benefit analysis automated tools used in the DOD and the regulations that apply to cost-benefit analyses in the DOD. It also lists the organizations involved in conducting CBA. By reading the list of tools and their features, readers will become aware of what is currently available in DOD to facilitate the reliability of CBA. The study also focuses on the ECONPACK software developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ECONPACK's strengths and weaknesses are analyzed. Also, ECONPACK is used to replicate two earlier studies - one a cost-benefit analysis of retail activities at military bases, the other a cost-effectiveness study of the operational availability of the Brazilian and Argentinean A-4 fleet. The replications demonstrate that ECONPACK is designed to support cost and cost-effectiveness analyses rather than true cost-benefit analyses.