Are replacement costs = economic damages?

The issue:

In a case involving a self-employed business owner injured in a motor vechicle accident. His injuries prevent him from performing some of the activities he performed pre-injury. In response to his limitations, the business has changed so that he’s managing the business more and marketing the business to continue growing the operation.

In order to do some of th ework he previously performed and to maintain the business, he hired an assistant.

The question is, in a business, can the loss be calculated as the cost (wages and benefits) to hire the additional help?

Economist 1:

I don't see why you can't calculate your client's loss by estimating the cost of hiring additional help. Is the additional help more, or less, skilled than your client? And is he doing more, or less, work that your client was? 2. Is your client doing more management activities than before Are any such additional activities of value to him? 3. What happens if the cost of hiring the help exceeds the profit the injured person was previously earning?

Economist 2:

See: Brown R.J. (1995). Loss of Earning Capacity in the Case of a Farmer, Litigation Economics Digest, (1)1. He discussed using the cost of replacement labor as a measure of economic loss for self-employed persons.

Also:
http://www.oswego.edu/%7Espizman/spizfloss.pdf