Making the Case for Domestic Violence Prevention Through the Lens of Cost-Benefit
A Manual for Domestic Violence Prevention Practitioners
(and the State and Local Policy-Makers They Present to)
Present Value of Benefits
We again emphasize this concept: When cost-benefit analysis estimates these delayed benefits, the value of these delayed benefits is decreased to adjust for the delay. This unusual perspective is actually quite typical in microeconomic analysis and is, more and more, being applied to the cost-benefit analysis of social programs, including prevention programs.
The “decreasing value” of the benefits appearing in the future can be given a “present value” of those benefits, a value which is reduced or diminished because the value of something far into the future is not a value being experienced in the now.
The so-called present value of a benefit, or positive outcome, realized well into the future, is today’s value of a long-term, future, outcome.
Does this mean that a short-term outcome is truly worth more today than a long-term outcome or simply that the short-term outcome is more measurable today, and more measurable in today’s values?
Of course, the answer is:
the short-term outcome is more measurable today, and more measurable in today’s values.
This is an important issue, one which we must keep in mind while making the case for programs and projects. Note that:
Any program that shows a short term positive outcome is likely to be viewed as better than something which does not.
A program that shows a positive short term outcome, but can also be expected to have positive long term effects, is viewed as yet more effective. Demonstrating positive long term outcome expectations can be done by providing research findings, as well data from other older and similar programs.
Yet, keep in mind:
Certainly, while short term outcomes, when positive, can be demonstrated, and long term outcomes may be far enough into the future that they may not be measured at all, the case for programs with desirable short term outcomes is not the only case to be made.
Long term outcomes are difficult to measure or prove, especially as being the direct result of any one particular program.
Also, funding for long term, or longitudinal, studies is often not available.
Additionally, evaluation technologies are not at their best in effectively proving the long term outcome of a particular program or project.