1981/01/01 by Burton A. Weisbrod · 1 citation
Health Professions · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Health Policy Implementation Science #Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
paper · doi:10.2307/145235
openalex publication_date 1981/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
This study is the first benefit-cost analysis of a controlled (random assignment) experiment in the mental health field. It compares, in terms of an unusually wide variety of "tangible" and "intangible" forms of benefits and costs, a traditional hospital-based approach to treating the mentally ill with a nontraditional community-based approach. The study highlights the very different forms taken by the effects of the alternative therapies. Thus it shows how distorted conclusions can result from a failure of benefit-cost analyses to measure benefits and costs comprehensively; a change in form can be mistaken for a change in level of costs or benefits.