by Derek George – On Wednesday morning the PSD result measurement group was introduced by Peter Beez and Dominique Guenat to Cost Benefit Analysis and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis. According to SDC guidelines, important documents such as EP/CPs and end-of-phase reports should include CBA. This has implications for partners as well. Participants learned about the difference between private/financial and economic/social project evaluation, and familiarized themselves with key concepts related to time-value of money: Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return, Cost-Benefit Ratio. They got a better grasp of the different options and the challenges with regards to quantifying costs and benefits of a project over time for the whole economy, considering externalities and opportunity cost.
Download the Excel Sheet: Cost Benefit Analysis – Project Example Spread Sheet [Excel File]
The critical role of the time-horizon of an evaluation, and of assumptions on which to base attribution analysis was emphasized, as these factors influence the degree to which projects thus evaluated can be compared with each other. Even though such evaluations are always based on assumptions and will not always provide straightforward answers with regard to the best possible course of action on their own, the exercise of quantifying, of thinking about impacts under different assumptions/scenarios help to achieve conceptual clarity and improve a project. The group was presented with an example of sensitivity / risk analysis that was very helpful to illustrate the way in which making one’s assumptions explicit and quantifying the impact logic in a spreadsheet can help predict the effect of slight changes in the value of some (sensitive) variables (i.e. different scenarios) on the project impact.
[slideshare id=21218747&doc=ppt-trainingonfinancialandeconomicprojectevaluation-peterbeez-130515150714]
Trouble viewing? Try fullscreen mode or download the PDF here: Financial and Economic Project Evaluation [PDF]
Last but not least, Jim Tanburn shared his insights on international trends regarding results measurement and the latest work of the DCED.
[slideshare id=21218877&doc=ppt-resultsmeasurementinconflict-affectedenvironmentsjimtanburn-130515151113]
Trouble viewing? Try fullscreen mode or download the PDF here: RM in Conflict-Affected Environments[PDF]
