The Dictionary of Human Geography

Comp. by: LElumalai Stage : Revises1 ChapterID: 9781405132879_4_C Date:31/3/09
Time:21:45:55 Filepath://ppdys1108/BlackwellCup/00_Blackwell/00_3B2/Gregory-
9781405132879/appln/3B2/revises/9781405132879_4_C.3d

of inequality as a consequence of entangled

nationalandtransnationalprocesses(fromstate

welfare decisions to globalneo-liberalismand

the acts oftransnational corporationsand

financialinstitutions);aphenomenonrequiring

transnational interventions, but all too fre-

quently treated by national elites as a domestic

issue (see also transnationalism). Finally,

Beck refers to ‘banal cosmopolitanism’ based

around the everyday consumption of products

and images from around the world, and the

increasing formation of cultural practices and

affiliations through world engagement.

The sum of these few examples of a multi-

dimensional process is the claim that ‘the

experiential space of separate national soci-

eties, each with its own uniform language,

identity and politics, is becoming more and

more of a myth’, as what counts as national

becomes ‘in its essence increasingly trans-

national or cosmopolitan’ (Beck, 2004,

p. 153). This does not in any way mean that

we are all becoming cosmopolitans, but it does

question how far accounts of what goes on

withinnationscan afford to ignore the world

at large. These considerations have prompted

some geographers to revisit the history of

geography (seegeography, history of), not

to condemn its contributionstout courtbut

to offer nuanced readings of its engagement

with cosmopolitan ideals (Cosgrove, 2003;

cf. Harvey 2000a), while others have sought

to energize the contemporary project of acrit-

ical human geographyby reflecting on the

implications of cosmopolitanism forethics

(e.g. Popke, 2007) and for political action

(e.g. Gidwani, 2006). aa

cost structure The division of the total cost

of production into its constituent parts, or the

cost of individual inputs. For example, the

cost structure of the iron and steel industry

would indicate absolute (or relative) amounts

of expenditure on iron ore, coking coal, lime-

stone, labour, capital equipment and so on.

The cost structure thus reveals whether a par-

ticular activity is material intensive,capital

intensive, labour intensive and so on, with

respect to expenditure on inputs. This infor-

mation can provide an initial clue to the inputs

likely to have the greatest bearing on the loca-

tion of the activity in question. dms

cost^benefit analysis An analytical proced-

ure for the comprehensive, frequentlyex ante,

economic evaluation of major public-sector

projects, embracing their full positive and

negative societal consequences, sometimes

over the range of project options and geo-

graphical scales (e.g. Turner, Adger and

Doktor, 1995). As such, cost–benefit analysis

(commonly ‘CBA’) covers a wider range of con-

siderations than the profit-and-loss accounting

of private-sector decision-making. Originally

applied to public river and harbour projects

in the USA, CBA’s contemporary uses extend

to such diverse issues as urban air quality,

dam and irrigation schemes, refuse recycling,

medical and veterinary procedures, transport

deregulation, roadway maintenance, disposal

of hazardous waste, energy generating and

conservation and job creation schemes

(Armstrong and Taylor, 2000; see also

Mishan and Quah, 2007).

Cost–benefit analysis involves three stages.

First, costs and benefits associated with

public projects have to be identified, including

intangibleexternalitiessuch as noise, habi-

tat loss, pollution and raising human

healthand lifespans. Second, these must be

quantified, including their discounting to a

common base date, since the various costs

and benefits can arise over very different time

periods. Finally, the resulting cost–benefit

ratios are incorporated into the decision-mak-

ing, or project-evaluation, stage, alongside

political and other judgmental inputs

(Turner, 2007).

Economists differ as to the best application

of these general principles in particular cases,

and over the validity of the exercise as a whole.

Defining all costs and benefits is one such:

how to be comprehensive without double-

counting. Not all variables have an obvious

marketvalue, and some ‘estimates’ may be

little more than guesses. The discount

rate can also be crucial to the outcome, and

endangers undervaluing the welfare of future

generations. Finally, distributional issues are

important – a $1 million benefit to poor

residents from one freeway route should out-

weigh the same gain to rich citizens from an

alternative.

Recent extensions of cost–benefit analysis to

large-scale environmental issues, such as

global warming, are now at the forefront of

international debate (Stern, 2007) but have

proved particularly controversial. Not only

are such potential environmental changes

irreversible, but the cost and benefits vary

internationally, raise sharp ethical valuation

judgements (e.g. over landscape, wildlife

and human life) and questions of inter- and

intra-generational fairness – the already poor

are likely to suffer most, while the future

generations who feel the sharp end of global

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_C Final Proof page 118 31.3.2009 9:45pm

COST STRUCTURE