Some remarks concerning the Cost/Benefit Analysis applied to LHC at CERN

TL;DR

This paper examines the challenges of applying cost/benefit analysis to the LHC at CERN, highlighting difficulties in quantifying scientific and social benefits and discussing implications for project evaluation.

Contribution

It extends the CBA model to basic research infrastructures and analyzes its limitations when applied to large scientific projects like the LHC.

Findings

Net social value of LHC is hard to quantify monetarily.

CBA results have high uncertainty but partial insights are valuable.

LHC's dual mission complicates economic assessment.

Abstract

The cost/benefit analysis originally developed for infrastructures in the economic sector has recently been extended by Florio et al to infrastructures of basic research. As a case study the large accelerator LHC at CERN and its experiments have been selected since as a paradigmatic example of frontier research they offer an excellent case to test the CBA model. It will be shown that in spite of this improved method the LHC poses serious difficulties for such an analysis. Some principle difficulties are due to the special character of scientific projects. Their main result is the production of new basic scientific knowledge whose net social value cannot be easily expressed in monetary terms. Other problems are related to the very strong integration of LHC into the general activities of CERN providing however, interesting observations concerning a new management style for global projects. Finally the mission of CERN (including LHC) is unique since it was founded with two tasks - promote science and bring nations together. No way has yet been developed to assess in economic terms success for the second objective. The main conclusion is that the overall result of the CB analysis, the Net Present Value, although positive for LHC, has a large uncertainty and if used to assess a project needs a detailed discussion. On the other hand partial results can be very useful, for example for the results of education or technology transfer.