Table 1 Contributions of engineers to the development of CBA in France
From: The origin of cost–benefit analysis: a comparative view of France and the United States
Year | Person | Contribution |
|---|---|---|
1708 | Abbé de Saint-Pierre | Theorizing that extra benefit of road improvements is equal to benefit from increased trade plus benefit from reduced transport cost minus additional expenses for improvement |
1776 | Gaspard Monge | Solving the problem of minimizing transport costs mathematically |
1822 | Pierre-Simon Girard | Measuring the benefit of a canal in terms of the value of time saved in transport and the amortized costs of building and maintaining the canal |
1824 | Louis-Joseph Favier | Establishing the principles that the amount of net revenue from a public work must be greater than the cost of (re)construction, and that a public work is to be preferred if its net utility exceeds that of another |
1830 | Henri Navier | Setting up the cost–benefit principle that public works should be provided only if the total benefits in terms of cost savings exceeds the total costs |
1832 | Joseph Minard | Making two advances to Navier's work by recognizing that savings resulted from changes in consumption and by introducing the value of time into the measure of benefit |
1833 | Charlemagne Courtois | Developing a single principle for the selection of the most preferable transport project linking two cities by calculating the greatest benefit given the costs |
1840 | André Mondot de Lagorce | Typifying the cost–benefit principle that compares advantages with disadvantages of a public work |
1844 | Jules Dupuit | Establishing the demand function based on marginal utility and introducing a practical measure of economic welfare known as consumer's surplus |