International benefit transfer: Methods and validity tests

The use of value estimates measured in one country to value policy changes in another country would seem to introduce some unique issues and challenges, even when the good being valued is identical. These issues include, how should values be converted from one currency to another; how to account for differences in measurable characteristics when those can vary markedly between countries (especially income); and how to account for differences between countries in culture and shared experiences that are difficult to quantify. However, these challenges in international benefit transfer are not that different from those encountered in transfers between regions within a country, and transfer errors are comparable to those seen in intra-country transfers. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.