Benefit-Cost Results
Since the 1990s, the Washington State legislature has directed WSIPP to identify “evidence-based” policies. The goal is to provide Washington policymakers and budget writers with a list of well-researched public policies that can, with a high degree of certainty, lead to better statewide outcomes coupled with a more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
Research Approach. WSIPP has developed a three-step process to draw conclusions about what works and what does not to achieve particular outcomes of legislative interest. First, we systematically assess all high-quality studies from the United States and elsewhere to identify policy options that have been tested and found to achieve improvements in outcomes. Second, we determine how much it would cost Washington taxpayers to produce the results found in Step 1, and calculate how much it would be worth to people in Washington State to achieve the improved outcome. That is, in dollars and cents terms, we compare the benefits and costs of each policy option. It is important to note that the benefit-cost estimates pertain specifically to Washington State; results will vary from state to state. Third, we assess the risk in the estimates to determine the odds that a particular policy option will at least break even. ...show more
WSIPP acknowledges the MacArthur Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts that have helped fund some of the research reported on this page.
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Overview of WSIPP's Benefit-Cost Model
Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes
For details on our benefit-cost methods, contact Heather Grob or download our Technical Documentation.
Latest Results. The tables on this webpage present our current findings for a variety of public policy topics. Items on these tables are updated periodically as new information becomes available. Interested readers can find more information by clicking each entry in the tables.
Use the search fields below to find specific benefit-cost results that match certain criteria. If you want to find other information on our website that is not benefit-cost results, you can use the search field in the navigation bar at the top, or click here to search the entire website.
Benefit-cost methods last updated December 2023
Current estimates replace old estimates. Numbers will change over time as a result of model inputs and monetization methods.
Adult Criminal Justice
|
Program name (click on the program name for more detail) |
Date of last literature review
|
Total benefits
|
Taxpayer benefits
|
Non-taxpayer benefits
|
Costs
|
Benefits minus costs (net present value)
|
Benefit to cost ratio
|
Chance benefits will exceed costs
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 2016 | $54,897 | $15,844 | $39,053 | ($2,870) | $52,027 | $19.13 | 88% | |
| Apr. 2012 | $82,217 | $28,096 | $54,121 | ($43,165) | $39,053 | $1.90 | 97% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $33,675 | $8,172 | $25,503 | ($4,610) | $29,065 | $7.30 | 93% | |
| Jul. 2016 | $29,083 | $7,931 | $21,152 | ($1,473) | $27,609 | $19.74 | 100% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $26,775 | $7,963 | $18,812 | ($1,919) | $24,856 | $13.95 | 99% | |
| Jul. 2016 | $21,052 | $5,833 | $15,220 | ($1,764) | $19,289 | $11.94 | 97% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $17,692 | $5,149 | $12,543 | $449 | $18,142 | n/a | 99% | |
| Dec. 2014 | $16,302 | $4,606 | $11,695 | $1,343 | $17,644 | n/a | 93% | |
| Oct. 2016 | $20,319 | $5,889 | $14,430 | ($3,653) | $16,665 | $5.56 | 95% | |
| Dec. 2016 | $15,565 | $4,605 | $10,960 | ($958) | $14,607 | $16.25 | 100% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $19,925 | $6,070 | $13,855 | ($5,803) | $14,122 | $3.43 | 95% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $15,410 | $4,299 | $11,110 | ($1,521) | $13,889 | $10.13 | 98% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $19,495 | $5,774 | $13,720 | ($6,007) | $13,488 | $3.25 | 65% | |
| Jul. 2016 | $14,198 | $3,971 | $10,227 | ($1,473) | $12,725 | $9.64 | 97% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $14,609 | $4,469 | $10,141 | ($1,919) | $12,690 | $7.61 | 70% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $12,407 | $3,416 | $8,991 | ($883) | $11,524 | $14.05 | 99% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $12,165 | $3,622 | $8,544 | ($907) | $11,259 | $13.42 | 100% | |
| Dec. 2014 | $9,720 | $2,405 | $7,314 | $1,343 | $11,062 | n/a | 100% | |
| Jan. 2017 | $10,854 | $2,989 | $7,865 | $80 | $10,934 | n/a | 65% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $13,193 | $3,502 | $9,691 | ($2,593) | $10,600 | $5.09 | 65% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $16,371 | $5,746 | $10,625 | ($5,803) | $10,567 | $2.82 | 100% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $26,901 | $9,581 | $17,320 | ($17,092) | $9,809 | $1.57 | 90% | |
| Dec. 2016 | $11,238 | $3,454 | $7,784 | ($1,617) | $9,621 | $6.95 | 98% | |
| Dec. 2016 | $10,382 | $3,209 | $7,173 | ($1,646) | $8,736 | $6.31 | 98% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $12,056 | $3,624 | $8,432 | ($4,462) | $7,594 | $2.70 | 59% | |
| Nov. 2016 | $7,397 | $1,844 | $5,554 | ($454) | $6,943 | $16.29 | 58% | |
| Jul. 2016 | $7,256 | $2,005 | $5,251 | ($572) | $6,684 | $12.68 | 100% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $8,965 | $2,912 | $6,053 | ($2,365) | $6,600 | $3.79 | 92% | |
| Jul. 2016 | $5,020 | $1,256 | $3,765 | $593 | $5,614 | n/a | 99% | |
| Mar. 2017 | $4,606 | $1,311 | $3,296 | $654 | $5,261 | n/a | 86% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $11,102 | $4,164 | $6,938 | ($6,326) | $4,776 | $1.76 | 59% | |
| Oct. 2016 | $9,283 | $3,341 | $5,942 | ($4,694) | $4,589 | $1.98 | 76% | |
| Jan. 2017 | $4,668 | $1,383 | $3,285 | ($2,851) | $1,817 | $1.64 | 61% | |
| Jan. 2017 | $6,972 | $2,111 | $4,860 | ($5,393) | $1,578 | $1.29 | 62% | |
| Feb. 2017 | $2,677 | $1,020 | $1,657 | ($1,307) | $1,371 | $2.05 | 57% | |
| Mar. 2017 | $340 | ($68) | $408 | $813 | $1,153 | n/a | 50% | |
| Dec. 2016 | $490 | $159 | $331 | ($126) | $364 | $3.88 | 53% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $1,478 | $757 | $722 | ($2,317) | ($839) | $0.64 | 42% | |
| Nov. 2016 | ($2,175) | ($447) | ($1,728) | ($413) | ($2,588) | ($5.27) | 33% | |
| Nov. 2016 | ($1,812) | ($130) | ($1,682) | ($1,049) | ($2,861) | ($1.73) | 47% | |
| Dec. 2016 | ($1,916) | ($330) | ($1,586) | ($1,350) | ($3,267) | ($1.42) | 34% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $5,156 | $2,996 | $2,160 | ($9,242) | ($4,086) | $0.56 | 19% | |
| Aug. 2014 | ($2,510) | ($475) | ($2,035) | ($1,708) | ($4,219) | ($1.47) | 24% | |
| Dec. 2016 | ($447) | $677 | ($1,124) | ($5,986) | ($6,434) | ($0.07) | 28% | |
| Aug. 2016 | $1,326 | $2,336 | ($1,010) | ($13,626) | ($12,300) | $0.10 | 2% | |
| Aug. 2016 | ($7,085) | ($570) | ($6,515) | ($9,880) | ($16,964) | ($0.72) | 0% | |
| Mar. 2017 | ($15,343) | ($2,213) | ($13,130) | ($5,633) | ($20,976) | ($2.72) | 24% | |
| Mar. 2021 | ($3,226) | $1,233 | ($4,460) | ($19,488) | ($22,714) | ($0.17) | 0% | |
| Apr. 2021 | ($10,308) | $223 | ($10,532) | ($21,912) | ($32,220) | ($0.47) | 0% |
| Policy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Program name (click on the program name for more detail) |
Date of last literature review
|
Total benefits
|
Taxpayer benefits
|
Non-taxpayer benefits
|
Costs
|
Benefits minus costs (net present value)
|
Benefit to cost ratio
|
Chance benefits will exceed costs
|
| Oct. 2013 | ($5,064) | ($994) | ($4,070) | $6,929 | $1,865 | n/a | 68% | |
| Oct. 2013 | ($17,898) | ($2,864) | ($15,033) | $6,929 | ($10,968) | n/a | 9% | |
| Oct. 2013 | ($38,355) | ($5,526) | ($32,829) | $6,929 | ($31,426) | n/a | 0% | |
| Police (results per-officer) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Program name (click on the program name for more detail) |
Date of last literature review
|
Total benefits
|
Taxpayer benefits
|
Non-taxpayer benefits
|
Costs
|
Benefits minus costs (net present value)
|
Benefit to cost ratio
|
Chance benefits will exceed costs
|
| Oct. 2013 | $605,028 | $78,568 | $526,460 | ($113,796) | $491,232 | $5.32 | 100% | |
| Oct. 2013 | $526,669 | $67,862 | $458,806 | ($108,377) | $418,292 | $4.86 | 100% | |
Other Adult Criminal Justice topics reviewed; benefit-cost results not yet available:
|
Program name (click on the program name for more detail) |
Date of last literature review | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Buprenorphine for opioid use disorder for adults post-release
| Mar. 2021 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Civil legal aid
| Mar. 2017 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Day fines
| Feb. 2017 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Deferred prosecution of DUI offenses
| Mar. 2017 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Dialectical behavior therapy
| Sep. 2015 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Domestic violence perpetrator treatment (Non-Duluth models)
| Aug. 2014 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Ignition interlock devices for alcohol-related offenses
| Mar. 2014 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Legal financial obligation repayment interventions
| Jan. 2017 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Mandatory arrest for domestic violence
NEW
| Jun. 2022 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Parenting programs (for incarcerated parents)
| Aug. 2016 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Revocation reduction programs
| Mar. 2017 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
|
Therapeutic communities for individuals with personality disorders
| Dec. 2016 | Click for meta-analytic results | |
| Click to expand | |||
