How do Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) differ in policy making?

• A. RIA assesses regulatory impacts across economic, social, and environmental dimensions; CBA monetizes costs and benefits to determine net value.
• B. RIA focuses solely on cost savings; CBA ignores environmental effects.
• C. RIA monetizes costs and benefits; CBA evaluates regulatory texts for feasibility.
• D. RIA and CBA are interchangeable; there is no difference.

Answer: (A)

RIA is a broad analytic process used in policymaking to study a proposed regulation’s effects across economic, social, and environmental dimensions, and to compare regulatory options, including how feasible they are to implement. Within that process, Cost-Benefit Analysis is the method that translates these impacts into monetary terms to determine the net value (benefits minus costs). So, RIA covers a wide range of effects and considerations, while CBA focuses on monetizing those effects to decide whether the regulation yields positive net value.

The other descriptions don’t fit because they either mischaracterize the scope of RIA—treating it as only cost savings or ignoring environmental effects—or misstate CBA’s role—suggesting it evaluates regulatory texts rather than monetizing costs and benefits.