The Evaluation Technology Based On Cost Applied In Legislative Programs

The evaluation technology based on cost has been extensively applied to projects in defense, transportation, irrigation, waterways, housing, public health, society security and education since 1950s. As a tool to support regulation and decision-making, despite the fact that the practice of the analysis based on cost is subject to criticism, its importance is unaffected. This article discusses mainly the cost-based evaluation technology applied on legislative programs, including method, history, development, current state and their prospective on legislative programs. It illustrates the support effect of the cost-based evaluation technology on decision-making through the case study of FMVSS No. 301 TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) of U.S., and further points out the modern evaluation technology works on decision-making through three channels: objectivity-oriented, public interest-oriented and public information-oriented. Some occasions of the institutional formation proves the necessity of regulation and decision-making. It also introduces five critiques: immorality,incomparability, immeasurability, inaccuracy and inconsistency. Five branches are followed: cost-benefit analysis(CBA), cost-effectiveness analysis(CEA), cost-utility analysis (CUA), cost-income analysis (CIA, or cost-revenue analysis, CRA) and cost-minimum analysis(CMA), of which cost-benefit analysis(CBA) is emphasized and taken example for introducing its operation procedure, according to American OMB Circular A94. When we illustrate the evolution history of cost-based evaluation technology, as to some important incidences: the rise and fall of PPBS, four reasons are pointed out: lack of consideration of localization of population, lack of consideration of designing for organizational environment of executives, lack of consideration of adjustment between president budget and congressional budget procedure and leading to cutoff the relations between PPBS report and congress, the resistance originated from the current knowledge on its jargon system, the power game between different parties and cliques. After the recount of cost-based evaluation technology of U.S., Canada, Australia, WHO and WB; we summarize their characteristics which we must pay attention when cost-based evaluation technology are applied to legislative programs: the cost-benefit rate of a program becomes increasingly important gauge when regulations and project decision are to be assessed for availability; a uniform operational and implementing standard must be set up when cost-based evaluation technology are applied to regulation; cost-benefit is not the only standard to evaluate a project, while cost-based evaluation technology is also not the only method to assess a project. In the end, we point out the necessity and the feasible principle such as the public interest, the scale and the rank. And from three aspects concept, mechanism and human resource, we think at present it is immature to apply the cost-based evaluation technology to Chinese legislative programs.