Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Cost-effectiveness analysis originated in the defense and space community where it is informally known as “getting the biggest bang for the buck.” Cost-effectiveness analysis shares a lot of the same philosophy and methodology with benefit-cost analysis. There are many similarities in the techniques; cost-effectiveness analysis was derived from benefit-cost analysis.

The three requirements for cost-effectiveness analysis to be used in a decision are as follows:

  • The problem must be bounded.

  • There needs to be more than one possible solution to that problem.

  • The proposals being considered are all valid solutions to that problem.

There are two versions of cost-effectiveness analysis. In the fixed-cost version, you are trying ...

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