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Cost Benefit Analyses (CBAs)A number of recent studies have attempted to provide analysis of the benefits and costsarising from investment in ECE programs. This has been an important development in termsof research of ECE programs, as a number of studies have demonstrated positive CBAresults for high quality programs. As stated by Karoly et al (2005:11):‘The fundamental insight of economics when comparing early childhood policieswith other social investments is that a growing body of program evaluationsshows that early childhood programs have the potential to generate governmentsavings that more than repay their costs and produce returns to society as awhole that outpace most public and private investments.’Nonetheless, complications lie in terms of establishing which aspects of certain ECEprograms return these positive results. Many studies have indicated that improvements in thequality parameters of programs result in positive outcomes.Table 3-15 shows benefit-cost ratios (BCRs) calculated for three US based ECE programs(Isaacs, 2006). Investments made in terms of these programs returned a total government,participant and society benefit of between 3.2 to 17.1 times that which was originallyinvested 20 .The greatest benefits are seen in individual earnings, criminal justice system (includingreductions in victims of crime) and government taxes (mainly as a result in increasedearnings). A meta-analysis of these programs indicated a BCR of 2.36 could be achievedfrom such programs, meaning that $2.36 could be returned for every $1 invested (Table3-15).20 Future streams of benefits are presented as a net present value in 2003 US dollars using a 3% discount rate.78