Federal discount rate policy, the shadow price of capital, and challenges for reforms
研究了联邦监管和预算机构在公共投资、监管、租赁购买和资产剥离决策中的贴现率政策，详细分析了资本影子价格方法的实施挑战，对政策制定者和经济学家有参考价值。
This paper addresses the problem of determining discount rate policies that are both consistent with basic economic principles and implementable given real-world constraints. The paper first examines the discounting policies of the three federal oversight and budget agencies as they apply to public investment, regulation, lease-purchase, and asset divestiture decisions. One prominent technique that has been suggested as a means of improving discounting policy, the shadow price of capital approach, is then considered in detail. Key aspects of its implementation are considered, including the determination of program cost incidence, rates of saving and reinvestment, and proper aggregation of capital costs. The analysis suggests that there are significant empirical challenges associated with this approach.