Aidan Vining
Retired Faculty, Strategy
Segal
Room: SGL 3305
Phone: 778.782.5249
Room: SGL 3335
Phone: 778.782.5249
Email: vining@sfu.ca
Curriculum Vitae: View
Credentials
LL.B.(Hons.) (King's College, London), M.B.A. (Calif., Riverside), M.P.P., Ph.D (Calif., Berkeley)Biography
Aidan is the Centre for North American Business Studies (CNABS) Professor of Business and Government Relations in the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. He has been at the SFU since 1984. He has held a number of administrative positions, most recently as the Academic Director of the Executive MBA. Previously, he was a faculty member at the Sauder School at the University of British Columbia. Aidan obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980. He also holds an LL.B (King’s College, London) and an MBA and MPP. He researches in the areas of public policy, policy analysis, institutional analysis and business strategy. His research focuses on privatization, corporatization, regulation, contracting-out and public-private partnerships. His recent business research focuses on high-tech clusters, outsourcing and the role of internal markets. Aidan has had over 75 widely cited journal articles, in Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Journal of Public Policy, Regulation & Governance, Health Economics, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, the Journal of Management Studies, Local Government Studies, Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Public Affairs, Canadian Public Policy, Small Business Economics, Public Administration Review and Social Science and Medicine among others. His work is widely cited (see Google Scholar). Five of Aidan’s articles have been reprinted in the International Library of Critical Writings in Economics and one in the International Library of Critical Writings in Business and Management. Three co-authored articles on cost-benefit analysis were reprinted in a Journal of Policy Analysis and Management volume on “classics” in cost-benefit analysis. With co-authors, he is the winner of the John Vanderkamp prize (Canadian Economics Association) and the J.E. Hodgetts Award (Institute of Public Administration of Canada) and one of two finalists for the Kenneth J. Arrow prize for senior economists (BEpress). He co-authors Policy Analysis; Concepts and Practice (5th. Ed., Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2011) and Cost-Benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice (4rd. Ed., Pearson Prentice-Hall, 2011.) He is the co-editor of Building the Future: Issues in Public Infrastructure in Canada (C.D. Howe, 2001). His recent book Investing in the Disadvantaged (Georgetown University Press) (written and edited with D. Weimer) applies cost-benefit analysis to social programs. In the spring of 2012, Aidan (Principal Investigator) and SFU colleague A. Pavlov were awarded a 5-year SSHRC Insights Grant to investigate the industry profitability implications of government regulation. In 2013, he was also awarded a SSHRC grant to study First Nations economic development enterprises. He has served as a consultant to both the British Columbia government (Ministry of the Environment) and the Federal government of Canada. He also serves on a number of Boards of Directors.
Research Interests
Strategic analysis and planning; institutional design and public sector policy analysis and management.Selected Publications
articles and reports
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2020). Social Discount Rates for Seventeen Latin American Countries: Theory and Parameter Estimation. Public Finance Review, 48(1), 43-71. http://doi.org/10.1177/1091142119890369
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2019). The value of high school graduation in the united states: Per-person shadow price estimates for use in cost-benefit analysis. Administrative Sciences, 9(4). http://doi.org/10.3390/admsci9040081
Moore, M. A., & Vining, A. R. (2018). The Social Rate of Time Preference and the Social Discount Rate. Mercatus Center, George Mason University. https://www.mercatus.org/publications/regulation/social-rate-time-preference-and-social-discount-rate
Vining, A. R., Vining, A. R., & Moore, M. A. (2017). Potash ownership and extraction: Between a rock and a hard place in Saskatchewan. Resources Policy, 54, 71-80. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2017.09.002
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2017). Risk in Public Sector Project Appraisal: It Mostly Does Not Matter! Public Works Management and Policy, 22(4), 301-321. http://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X17709482
Moore, M. A., Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2017). An Appropriate Social Discount Rate for Use by the IDB. Inter-American Development Bank.
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2017). Debate: Adam Smith was skeptical of hybrids—should we be less so? Public Money and Management, 37(6), 387-388. http://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2017.1344008
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2017). Analyzing risk in PPP provision of utility services: A social welfare perspective. Utilities Policy. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2017.08.008
Moore, M. A., & Vining, A. R. (2017). The privatization of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan. Frontier Centre for Public Policy. https://fcpp.org/wp-content/uploads/FC17002_PrivPotashSK_F1.pdf
Vining, A. R. (2016). What is public agency strategic analysis (Pasa) and how does it differ from public policy analysis and firm strategy analysis? Administrative Sciences, 6(4). http://doi.org/10.3390/admsci6040019
Richards, J., & Vining, A. R. (2016). Achieving better primary school outcomes in a context of weak education governance: A case study of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Education Journal, 15(2). http://www.bafed.net/pdf/edecember2016/2_Achieving_Better_Primary_School_outcomes.PDF
Boardman, A. E., Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2016). The long-run effects of privatization on productivity: Evidence from Canada. Journal of Policy Modeling, 38(6), 1001-1017. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2016.04.002
Vining, A. R., & Richards, J. (2016). Indigenous economic development in Canada: Confronting principal-agent and principal–principal problems to reduce resource rent dissipation. Resources Policy, 49, 358-367. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2016.07.006
Richards, J., & Vining, A. R. (2016). Under-Five Mortality: Comparing National Levels and Changes over the Last Decade Across Low-Income Countries. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 18(4), 419-438. http://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2016.1151135
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2016). The challenges of fractionalized property rights in public-private hybrid organizations: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Regulation and Governance, 10(2), 161-178. http://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12086
Brydon, M., & Vining, A. R. (2016). Combining Citizen Participation and Expert Analysis: A Wild, Wild Horses Problem in British Columbia. Local Government Studies, 42(1), 75-96. http://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2015.1081847
Vining, A. R., Laurin, C., & Weimer, D. (2015). The longer-run performance effects of agencification: Theory and evidence from Québec agencies. Journal of Public Policy, 35(2), 193-222. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X14000245
Richards, J., & Vining, A. R. (2015). Universal primary education in low-income countries: The contributing role of national governance. International Journal of Educational Development, 40, 174-182. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.09.004
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2014). Self-interest springs eternal: Political economy reasons why public-private partnerships do not work as well as expected. CESifo DICE Report, 12(3), 17-23. https://www.ifo.de/en/node/28423
Vining, A. R., Boardman, A. E., & Moore, M. A. (2014). The theory and evidence pertaining to local government mixed enterprises. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 85(1), 53-86. http://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12029
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A., & Vining, A. R. (2013). The choice of the social discount rate and the opportunity cost of public funds. Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 4(3), 401-409. http://doi.org/10.1515/jbca-2013-0023
Boardman, A. E., Laurin, C., Moore, M. A., & Vining, A. R. (2013). Efficiency, profitability and welfare gains from the Canadian National Railway privatization. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 6, 19-30. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2012.11.011
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2013). More appropriate discounting: The rate of social time preference and the value of the social discount rate. Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 4(1), 1-16. http://doi.org/10.1515/jbca-2012-0008
Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2012). The political economy of public-private partnerships and analysis of their social value. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 83(2), 117-141. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8292.2012.00457.x
Rosen, L., Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2011). Addressing the shortage of kidneys for transplantation: Purchase and allocation through chain auctions. Journal of health politics, policy and law, 36(4), 717-755. http://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-1334695
Vining, A. R. (2011). Public agency external analysis using a modified "Five Forces" framework. International Public Management Journal, 14(1), 63-105. http://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2011.547819
Boardman, A. E., Moore, M. A., & Vining, A. R. (2010). The social discount rate for canada based on future growth in consumption. Canadian Public Policy, 36(3), 325-343. http://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.36.3.325
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2010). An assessment of important issues concerning the application of benefit-cost analysis to social policy. Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 1(1), 1-38. http://doi.org/10.2202/2152-2812.1013
Russell, B. I., Shapiro, D., & Vining, A. R. (2010). The evolution of the Canadian mining industry: The role of regulatory punctuation. Resources Policy, 35(2), 90-97. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2009.09.002
Richards, J. G., Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2010). Aboriginal performance on standardized tests: Evidence and analysis from provincial schools in British Columbia. Policy Studies Journal, 38(1), 47-67. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2009.00344.x
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2010, February). Making P3S work. Canadian Government Executive, 16(2), 24-25.
Maine, E. M., Shapiro, D. M., & Vining, A. R. (2010). The role of clustering in the growth of new technology-based firms. Small Business Economics, 34(2), 127-146. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-008-9104-3
Boardman, A. E., Laurin, C., Moore, M. A., & Vining, A. R. (2009). A cost-benefit analysis of the privatization of Canadian National Railway. Canadian Public Policy, 35(1), 59-83. http://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.35.1.59
Weimer, D. L., Vining, A. R., & Thomas, R. K. (2009). Cost benefit analysis involving addictive goods: Contingent valuation to estimate willingness-to-pay for smoking cessation. Health Economics, 18(2), 181-202. http://doi.org/10.1002/hec.1365
Armstrong, J. L., Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2009, January). Developing sound dental practice strategy: Really understanding your customers and your services. Dental Practice Management, Winter, 31-42.
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2008). The potential role of public-private partnerships in the upgrade of port infrastructure: Normative and positive considerations. Maritime Policy and Management, 35(6), 551-569. http://doi.org/10.1080/03088830802469451
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2008). Public-private partnerships: Eight rules for governments. Public Works Management and Policy, 13(2), 149-161. http://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X08323843
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2008). Public-private partnerships in canada: Theory and evidence. Canadian Public Administration, 51(1), 9-44. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-7121.2008.00003.x
Brydon, M., & Vining, A. R. (2008). Adoption, improvement, and disruption: Predicting the impact of open source applications in enterprise software markets. Journal of Database Management, 19(2), 73-94. http://doi.org/10.4018/jdm.2008040104
Bilodeau, N., Laurin, C., & Vining, A. (2007). "Choice of organizational form makes a real difference": The impact of corporatization on government agencies in Canada. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17(1), 119-147. http://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mul014
Brydon, M., & Vining, A. R. (2006). Understanding the failure of internal knowledge markets: A framework for diagnosis and improvement. Information and Management, 43(8), 964-974. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2006.09.001
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A. E., Vining, A. R., Weimer, D. L., & Greenberg, D. H. (2004). "Just give me a number!" Practical values for the social discount rate. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 23(4), 789-812. http://doi.org/10.1002/pam.20047
Schwindt, R., Moore, M. A., & Vining, A. (2004). Canadian-U.S. Trade policy: An economic analysis of the softwood lumber case. American Behavioral Scientist, 47(10), 1335-1357. http://doi.org/10.1177/0002764204264259
Vining, A., & Meredith, L. (2000). Metachoice for Strategic Analysis. European Management Journal, 18(6), 605-618. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-2373(00)00053-0
books chapters and monographs
Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2017). There are many (well, more than one) paths to Nirvana: The economic evaluation of social policies. In Greve, B. (Ed.), Handbook of Social Policy Evaluation (pp. 77-99). Edward Elgar Publishing (UK). http://doi.org/10.4337/9781785363245.00011
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. (2017). Policy analysis: A valuable skill for public administrators. In Raadschelders, J. C. N., & Stillman, R. (Eds.), Foundations of Public Administration. Melvin and Leigh.
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2017). Business associations and the public policy process: When do they do policy analysis? In Brans, M., Geva-May, I., & Howlett, M. (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Comparative Policy Analysis (pp. 261-275). Routledge (US). http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315660561
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2015). Policy Analysis. In Smelser, N. J., & Baltes, P. B. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences: Second Edition (pp. 273-280). Elsevier Ltd (UK). http://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.10555-0
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. (2014). Cost-benefit analyses of economic policies (2000s-present). In Wright, R. E., & Zeiler, T. W. (Eds.), Guide to US Economic Policy (pp. 391-401). CQ Press.
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2013). An assessment of important issuesconcerning the application of benefit-cost analysis to social policy. In Farrow, S., & Zerbe, R. (Eds.), Principles and Standards for Benefit-Cost Analysis (pp. 25-62). Edward Elgar Publishing (UK). http://doi.org/10.4337/9781782549062.00007
Brydon, M. J., & Vining, A. R. (2010). A dynamic model of adoption and improvement for open source business applications. In Siau, K., & Erickson, J. (Eds.), Principle Advancements in Database Management Technologies: New Applications and Frameworks (pp. 225-249). IGI Global. http://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-904-5
Boardman, A. E., Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2010). Assessing the economic worth of public-private partnerships. In Hodge, G. A., Greve, C., & Boardman, A. E. (Eds.), International Handbook on Public-Private Partnerships (pp. 159-186). Edward Elgar Publishing (UK). http://doi.org/10.4337/9781849804691.00016
Weimer, D. L., Vining, A. R., & Vining, A. R. (2009). An agenda for promoting and improving the use of CBA in social policy. In Weimer, D. L. (Ed.), Investing in the Disadvantaged: Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Social Policies (pp. 249-271). Georgetown University Press.
Boardman, A., Vining, A., & Waters, W. G. (2009). Costs and Benefits through Bureaucratic Lenses: Example of a Highway Project. In Weimer, D. L. (Ed.), Cost-Benefit Analysis and Public Policy (pp. 214-234). Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. http://doi.org/10.1002/9781444307177.ch22
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A. E., Vining, A. R., Weimer, D. L., & Greenberg, D. H. (2009). "Just Give me a Number!" Practical Values for the Social Discount Rate. In Weimer, D. L. (Ed.), Cost-Benefit Analysis and Public Policy (pp. 102-124). Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. http://doi.org/10.1002/9781444307177.ch11
Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2009). Assessing the costs and benefits of social programs. In Weimer, D. L., & Vining, A. R. (Eds.), Investing in the Disadvantaged: Assessing the Benefits and Costs of Social Policies (pp. 1-16). Georgetown University Press.
Brydon, M. J., & Vining, A. R. (2009). Adoption, improvement and disruption: Predicting the impact of open source applications in enterprise software markets. In Erickson, J. (Ed.), Database technnologies: Concepts, methodologies, tools and applications, Volue IV (pp. 2572-2594). IGI Global. http://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-60566-058-5.ch155
Weimer, D. L., & Vining, A. R. (2009). An illustration: Taxing alcohol to save lives. In Schmitz, A., & Zerbe, R. O. (Eds.), Applied Benefit - Cost Analysis (International Library of Critical Writings in Economics). Edward Elgar Publishing (UK).
Vining, A. R., Waters, W. G., & Boardman, A. E. (2009). Costs and benefits through bureaucratic lenses: Example of a highway project. In Schmitz, A., & Zerbe, R. O. (Eds.), Applied Benefit - Cost Analysis (International Library of Critical Writings in Economics) (pp. 532-555). Edward Elgar Publishing (UK).
Schwindt, R., & Vining, A. R. (2008). Conflict and reform in the BC salmon fishery. In Sproule-Jones, M., Johns, C., & Heinmiller, B. T. (Eds.), Canadian Water Politics: Conflicts and Institutions (pp. 286-307). McGill-Queens University Press.
Boardman, A. E., Shapiro, D., & Vining, A. R. (2008). The role of agency costs in explaining the superior performance of foreign MNE subsidiaries. In Paliwida, S. J., & Ryans Jr., J. K. (Eds.), International marketing: Modern and classic papers (Volume III) (pp. 100-122). Edward Elgar Publishing (UK).
Boardman, A. E., & Vining, A. R. (2008). Can P3s contribute to the upgrade of Canada's Asia-Pacific trade infrastructure? In Gillen, D., Parsons, G., Prentice, B., & Wallis, P. (Eds.), Canada's Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative: Policy, trade and gateway economics, Vol. I (pp. 13-65). Centre for Transportation Studies.
Vining, A. R., & Boardman, A. E. (2007). The choice f formal policy analysis methods in Canada. In Dobuzinskis, L., Howlett, M., & Laycock, D. (Eds.), Policy Analysis in Canada: The State of the Art (pp. 48-85). University of Toronto Press.
Moore, M. A., Boardman, A., & Greenberg, D. H. (2001). The social discount rate in Canada. In Vining, A. R., & Richards, J. (Eds.), Building the Future: Issues in Public Infrastructure in Canada (pp. 73-130). C.D. Howe Institute.
Schwindt, R., Vining, A., & Globerman, S. (2000). Net loss: A cost-benefit analysis of the Canadian Pacific salmon fishery. In Weimer, D. L. (Ed.), Cost-Benefit Analysis and Public Policy (pp. 419-439). Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc. http://doi.org/10.1002/9781444307177.ch32
Related Teaching Material
Boardman, A. E., Greenberg, D., Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2010). Cost-benefit analysis: Concepts and practice (4th Edition). Pearson Prentice-Hall.
Weimer, D. L., & Vining, A. R. (2010). Policy analysis: Concepts and practice (5th Edition). Pearson Prentice-Hall.