cost-benefit analysis

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun finance, economics A methodology to help appraise or assess the case for a project or proposal, by estimating the net cost or benefit of the project of proposal.
• noun Any comparison of costs and benefits.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an analysis of the cost effectiveness of different alternatives in order to see whether the benefits outweigh the costs