Propuestas para la determinación de la tasa social de descuento: una revisión analítica

Abstract

In this paper I examine the concept of discount and its rationale, and the way in which it is used when evaluating public projects, particularly in those projects generating negative effects on the environment and natural resources. In addition, I establish some theoretical justifyings for discounts from the perspective of economic models of maximizing social welfare. Said this, I analyze two proposals within economic theory: i) social rate of intertemporal consumer preference, based on the temporal preference rate, and, ii) cost of social oportunity of capital, based on its marginal productivity. Moreover, the paper reviews some practical proposals which have been of late established as alternatives to the above mentioned in the first two paragraphs. Nonetheless, the article focuses on theoretical methods proposed for determining the social rate of discount and in the various criticisms raised against each one of these two proposals.