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Economic Definition of benefit-cost ratio. Defined.

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Term benefit-cost ratio Definition: The benefit of an activity per dollar of cost. Benefit-cost ratios (or alternatively cost-benefit ratios) are frequently estimated for many forms of government spending, as well as a growing number of business investments. This technique was originally developed to determine if public investment projects, like dams, public parks, highways, etc., were worth doing. The logic is simple -- If benefits are greater than costs, then the project is worthwhile, if they are less, then it isn't.

 

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