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Valuing Changes in Time Use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Dale WhittingtonJoseph Cook
Published in: Journal of benefit-cost analysis (2018)
Valuing changes in time use is often a critical element of economic analyses of development projects. In this paper we review the literature on the monetary value of time in low- and middle-income countries and find support for a commonly used benchmark of 50% of after-tax wages for time changes in activities in the informal sector, such as collecting water or traveling to health clinics. We offer recommendations to analysts who are conducting benefit-cost analyses in these settings about what methods they can use to estimate the value of time. These include a benefits transfer approach and also a relatively simple stated preference approach that might be deployed in a specific context if the project recommendation is sensitive to the assumption of the value of time or if the distribution of the benefits of time savings is especially important.
Keyphrases
  • quality improvement
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  • mental health
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  • risk assessment