Private and social discount rate

The "social discount rate" is the interest rate used in cost-benefit analyses of infrastructure and other public projects. As seen from the discussion of the Stern report on climate change (see Stern, 2007, and Nordhaus, 2007), differences in the social discount rate can have substantial implications for evaluating the costs and benefits of public projects.

The US government uses a variety of discount rates but something around 7% is what the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recommends for a pretax rate of return on private investments. In the United Kingdom, HM Treasury fixes the social discount rate for the public sector at 3.5%. Calculation Private & Social Discount Rates. SOCIAL Risk Free Cost of Capital = the rate of return that is earned when there is absolutely no risk of earning more or less than the expected return. SOCIAL Risk Premium = amount required to compensate capital owners for potential differences between expected and actual returns. Social Discount Rate in Theory There is a body of theoretical literature on the choice of SDR. Theory maintains that, if there was a single capital market that was perfectly competitive, there will be one interest rate that prevails, and this one interest rate would equate marginal time preference of savers with the marginal productivity of capital. Problems arise when aggregating individual Ramsey discount rate functions into a social discount rate function that would serve as a basis for an SDR. Using the opportunity cost of capital would be better described as a method of obtaining an SDR than as a rationale for discounting. The Social Discount Rate Andrew Caplin and John Leahy∗ January 2004 Abstract What discount rate should be applied to social investments? It is standard to use the market interest rate, thereby respecting private preferences. We show that application of this “revealed preference” criterion rests on faith, not logic.

where r is the individual discount rate and we assume that the air conditioner discount rate substantially exceeds the social discount rate used in benefit-.

of return earned on a marginal project in the private sector. The social time pref- erence rate is the rate of fall in the social value of consumption by the public. It. Apr 30, 2012 The social opportunity cost of capital is equated with the Marginal Rate of Return on Private Investment. One argument for the rate-of-return. expansion of consistency criteria applied in private projects to public projects. KEYWORDS: evaluation of public projects, social discount rate, capital budgeting . Jul 16, 2014 Should governments use a discount rate that declines over time when In the Ramsey formula, δ is the rate at which society (i.e., the social planner) capital as the discount rate when a project displaces private investment.

social discount rate would be around 3.5-4 percent. To the extent that the region improves on its past performance, which admittedly has been quite dismal and therefore may bias the results, the social discount rate to be used in the evaluation of future projects would increase. In this regard, estimates in the 5-6 percent would be more appropriate.

the social rate of time preference for consumption as the appropriate discount rate, resources, as it crowds out the use of those same resources by the private  

Private & Social Discount Rates. SOCIAL Risk Free Cost of Capital = the rate of return that is earned when there is absolutely no risk of earning more or less than the expected return. SOCIAL Risk Premium = amount required to compensate capital owners for potential differences between expected and actual returns.

Aug 10, 2005 Market rates reflect social preferences. Most discount rates used for benefit cost analysis are based on U.S. Treasury borrowing marginal pretax rate of return on an average investment in the private sector in recent years. This article surveys the debate over the social discount rate. The focus (One also has a private discount factor, corresponding to private as opposed to social 

May 3, 2015 Social discount rates are applied for evaluating total costs and benefits of energy systems from a societal perspective;. ▫ Individual discount 

Feb 2, 2014 Social Rate of Time Preference. When the calculation is for a private investment, then all costs associated with the investment will be displacing  Which SDR makes sense? 6 / 28. Page 8. SDR as individual MRTP. Marginal rate  Dec 11, 2006 One assumes that public investment displaces private consumption, and the discount rate is labelled the social rate of time preference (SRTP). of return earned on a marginal project in the private sector. The social time pref- erence rate is the rate of fall in the social value of consumption by the public. It. Apr 30, 2012 The social opportunity cost of capital is equated with the Marginal Rate of Return on Private Investment. One argument for the rate-of-return. expansion of consistency criteria applied in private projects to public projects. KEYWORDS: evaluation of public projects, social discount rate, capital budgeting .

Jul 16, 2014 Should governments use a discount rate that declines over time when In the Ramsey formula, δ is the rate at which society (i.e., the social planner) capital as the discount rate when a project displaces private investment. Social Discount Rate. Drugs And Driving. 10 May 10 May 2017. Institutional and Political Determinants of Private Participation in Infrastructure. 15 May 2017   May 7, 2015 Keywords: Social discount rate, expert advice, project evaluation, tangled, individual components of the Ramsey Rule's social rate of time  1bcrc: are rwo primary methods of choosing a social dis- count rate. The: first method uses the marginal real rate of return OIl private capital as a ptoxy fo.. the:   May 3, 2015 Social discount rates are applied for evaluating total costs and benefits of energy systems from a societal perspective;. ▫ Individual discount  Summation of all individual benefits would yield the total social benefit. Thus, in this simple example, the social discount rate is two percent, while the implicit