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Economics and Benefits Analysis

Past Activities and Events:

2022

  • Coffee Hour: EBASG Committee hosted a webinar on EBASG Planning for 2022 on February 23rd, 2022. We discussed what our members were currently working on and possible programming
    for the year.
  • Webinar – Exploring New Opportunities for Partnerships between SRA and PBC: SRA sponsors this dialogue with leaders of PBC and the ‘community quarterback’ organization Blueprint 15 in Syracuse NY to explore new partnerships. Webinar included discussions on information about PBC and how SRA members, regional organizations, and specialty groups might partner with multi-disciplinary teams at PBC to support holistic, integrated, long-term neighborhood efforts to revitalize and transform neighborhoods that have suffered from decades of disinvestment. This webinar is sponsored by Upstate NY SRA, and six SRA specialty groups are invited, including Economics & Benefits Analysis SG. The webinar was hosted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2022. Upstate NY SRA sponsors this dialogue with leaders of PBC and the ‘community quarterback’ organization Blueprint 15 in Syracuse NY to explore new partnerships. Webinar included discussions on information about PBC and how SRA members, regional organizations, and specialty groups might partner with multi-disciplinary teams at PBC to support holistic, integrated, long-term neighborhood efforts to revitalize and transform neighborhoods that have suffered from decades of disinvestment.
  • Coffee Hour: EBASG Committee hosted a coffee hour on Planning and Brainstorming for the SRA Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022. We discussed ideas for organizing symposiums and what our members were currently working on.
  • Coffee Hour: EBASG Committee hosted the second coffee hour on Planning and Brainstorming for the SRA Annual Meeting on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2022. We discussed ideas for organizing symposiums and what our members were currently working on.
  • Online Discussion – RAQT: This online discussion was lead by Applied Risk Management Specialty Group on July 20th, 2022. We discussed the RAQT and possible inclusion of economics analysis on RAQT followed by written correspondence with ARMSG.
  • Webinar – Decision-Making During a Syndemic: Evacuation and Sheltering in Response to Hurricane Laura: This webinar by Prof. Alex Greer took place on September 29th, 2022. The webinar was co-sponsored by Economics and Benefits Analysis Specialty Group (EBASG) and Engineering and Infrastructure Specialty Group (EISG). In August 2020, Hurricane Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm, heavily affecting the coastlines of Texas and Louisiana. At the same time, both areas were coping with a surge in COVID-19 cases absent a vaccine. This study explored how emergency management stakeholders navigated evacuation, sheltering, and re-entry planning and decision-making during a dual hazard threat where hurricane risk reduction measures contradicted COVID-19 risk reduction measures. We conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with emergency management stakeholders in Texas and Louisiana in the spring of 2021. Participants were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy designed to identify agency representatives and other officials involved in Hurricane Laura response. We used thematic analysis to code and analyze the data. Three themes emerged from the data. Given the continued threat posed by COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, this study provides insights that emergency management stakeholders could apply to current and future planning and response efforts for hazards that require evacuation and sheltering. For online event recordings on SRA web page: https://www.sra.org/webinar/decision-making-during-a-syndemic-evacuation-and-sheltering-in-response-to-hurricane-laura-2/
  • Online Workshop – Benefit-Cost Analysis for U.S. Regulations (October 4-5, 2022): This workshop, co-sponsored by the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Society for Risk Analysis Economics and Benefits Analysis Specialty Group, introduces the use of benefit-cost analysis for Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) in the Federal government. The workshop was held on October 4 & 5, 2022. The topics includes issues of identifying the market failure, establishing the correct baseline, choosing the policy options, estimating benefits, estimating costs, and identifying transfers. The focus is on analyses of U.S. health and safety regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, with further examples from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but the concepts and practices are equally applicable to analyses conducted in other policy areas and in other countries or at a sub-national level. This workshop is intended for both economists and other practitioners who have a working knowledge of benefit-cost analysis and the general concept of measuring welfare effects and risk.
  • Online Panel – The Economic Risks of Overturning Roe: What Are the Implications for Smart Cities & Communities? The event is being co-hosted by the Society for Risk Analysis (Economic and Benefits Analysis Specialty Group, and Risk, Policy & Law Specialty Group) and Dentons Global Smart Cities & Connected Communities Think Tank. It took place on Thursday, November 3rd, 2022, 1 PM – 2:15 PM ET. The panel of thought leaders addressed the economic implications of Dobbs in the context of smart city planning and development. For online event recordings on SRA web page: https://www.sra.org/webinar/the-economic-risk-of-overturning-roe/
  • Workshop at the Annual Meeting: Eliciting Judgments from Experts and Non-Experts: This workshop has been annually organized by active EBASG members, Frank Hearl, Aylin Sertkaya, and Cristina McLaughlin. This year, the workshop was on Sunday, December 4th, 2022. The workshop covers topics ranging from recruitment, elicitation protocol design, different elicitation techniques (e.g., individual elicitations, Delphi method, nominal group technique, and focus groups) to aggregation methods for combining opinions of multiple individuals. The role of judgment elicitation and its limitations, problems, and risks in policy analysis were also addressed. The workshop includes presentation of two case studies that included a discussion of the selection process; elicitation protocol development, elicitation technique utilized, and the various issues that arose before, during, and after the elicitation process and the way they were resolved. The class also includes two hands-on exercises where participants 1) learn about calibration of experts using a mobile application and 2) apply the Delphi and nominal group techniques to examine risk management issues associated with a popular topic.

2021

  • December 5, 2021 Workshop – Eliciting Judgments from Experts and Non-experts to Inform Decision-making: As a part of the SRA annual meeting EBASG members Cristina McLaughlin and Aylin Sertkaya conducted their annual workshop titled “Eliciting Judgments from Experts and Non-experts to Inform Decision-making”.
  • November 4, 2021 Webinar – on OSHA Silica Standard 2017: History, Debates, Risk Assessment, and Importance: In November 2018, Dr. Sally Kane, who was the President of the SRA National Capital Area Chapter (NCAC), planned a silica risk assessment symposium to explore how the new Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) silica standard evolved from the risk assessment. The symposium was postponed and then the pandemic occurred. In spring of 2021 Sally Kane passed away. To honor Dr. Kane’s memory, the NCAC executive committee has planned a webinar to explore the development of silica/silicosis risk management strategies. This webinar was co-sponsored by the SRA EBASG and the Occupational Health and Safety Specialty Group.
  • October 13-14, 2021  – SBCA-SRA ‘Cost-Benefit Analysis for U.S. Regulatory Impact Statements’ Online Workshop: This workshop, with presenters Aliya Sassi, Lizzi Quin, Aaron Kearsely, Chris Dockins, and Charles Griffiths, introduced the use of benefit-cost analysis for regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) in the Federal government. The topics included issues of identifying the market failure, establishing the correct baseline, choosing the policy options, estimating benefits, estimating costs, and identifying transfers.  The workshop was structured as an overarching presentation with examples from past RIAs used as practical example to be discussed by the participants. This workshop was co-sponsored by the SRA Economics and Benefits Analysis Specialty Group (SRA-EBASG) and was hosted by the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis (SBCA) on October 13-14, 2021.
  • June 2, 2021 Online Coffee Hour: EBASG Committee hosted a coffee hour on planning for the SRA 2021 Annual Meeting. We discussed ideas for organizing symposiums and what our members were currently working on.
  • May 4, 2021 Online Coffee Hour: EBASG Committee hosted a coffee hour on planning for the SRA Annual Meeting. We discussed ideas for future symposiums and research topics that our current members were working on.
  • February 23, 2021 Online Coffee Hour: EBASG Committee and Lisa Robinson hosted a webinar on EBASG Planning, Challenges, and Goals.