How does the BCI assist with comparing assets/projects of different scales, durations and types?
Comparing assets/projects of different scales, durations and types has always been a challenge for managers of natural assets. Because of the way it is designed, the BCI assists greatly with this problem. In principle, the ideal decision method is one that results in the most valuable outcomes overall, given the available budget. The BCI is theoretically consistent with this ideal. In the BCI, benefits are measured in a way that allows comparison across different types of assets. A key factor in allowing this is standardisation of asset scores (V) relative to the value of an asset of very high national significance. Then the other variables in the benefits index are all expressed as proportions or probabilities, so that the unit of measure for the benefits index (the numerator of the BCI) is essentially the same as for V. The differences are (a) that V is a particular deterministic value, whereas the benefits index is an expected value, or weighted average and (b) the benefits index is
