It can also provide a common basis for dialogue among stakeholders and facilitate information sharing to improve the communication, uptake and acceptance of SMM policies and principles. Such analysis encompasses a range of economic techniques based around cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis and is used to assess the potential impacts on social welfare from policy initiatives. Issues such as environmental valuation techniques, the distribution of costs and benefits over time and groups within society, and appropriate discount rates all play an important role in the use of cost-benefit analysis (OECD, 2006). Belgium and the US, among other OECD countries, have many voluntary partnership programmes.