Economic Analysis Concepts

1. Economic Analysis Concepts

2. Questions & Decisions (1) • Is the project justified ?- Are benefits greater than costs? • Which is the best investment if we have a set of mutually exclusive alternatives? • If funds are limited, how should different schemes be ranked? • When should the Application systembe built or upgraded? 2

3. Questions & Decisions (2) • What standard of Development should be used? • Are anycomplementary investments required? 3

4. Appraisal Framework • All appraisals need a framework or model for: a) Forecasting changes b) Evaluating those changes 4

5. Components of Economic Analysis (1) • Costs and benefits are measured in terms of invested money • Systemdevelopment and maintenance costs are compared with estimates of the direct primary benefits going to system users • Economic prices are used in constant terms 5

6. Components of Economic Analysis (2) • Costs and Benefits are forecast over the planning time horizon (usually between 5 and 10 years) • Future Benefits are valued • less time cosumption 6

7. Economic and Financial Prices The cost to the economy of development and maintenance may differ from the financial cost because of : • Type of work • taxes The Organizations will usually be concerned with ECONOMIC costs. 7

8. Use of Economic Prices In an Economic Appraisal we use ECONOMIC (or SHADOW) prices NOT FINANCIAL prices • Adjust financial prices as follows: • Exclude all taxes and cost and subsidies • Use the planning discount rate not financial market rate • If overvalued exchange rate then value imports and • exports more highly • Use the opportunity cost of worker • Standard Conversion Factors (SE) are now widely used for road construction costs 8

9. Project Costs • Management (including design and supervision) • Workers • Hardware • Materials (Others) • Environment 9

10. Primary Effects (1) • Reduced operating costs (VOC) • How.... 10

11. Other Effects • Changes in Internal output • Changes in services • Changes in industrial output • Changes in consumers behavior • Changes in Profit 11

12. Consumers’ Surplus Approach • Captures primary benefits • Advantages: Simple, cost based, traffic approach dependent on predicting changes in usage • Disadvantages: May not address critical factors during development or social access 12

13. Producers’ Surplus Approach • Captures secondary benefits • Advantages: Draws attention to changes in output (key economic activity) • Disadvantages: No reliable way of predicting response - impact studies give widely different answers - • For most projects benefits are just invented ! 13

14. Example Producers’ Surplus Price & Costs per Unit of Output IncreasedFarmgate Price P2 P1 Lower Input Costs Output O1 O2 14

15. Coverage and Double Counting • Any economic analysis should be designed to give maximum usage and benefits • But we must avoid double counting. Do not add primary and secondary benefits • In a competitive economy the consumers’ surplus approach should be adequate 15

16. Economic Comparisons • Economic analysis involves a comparison of “With” and “Without” project cases • An unrealistic “Without” case (i.e. with little maintenance) can give a false result • A range of “With investment” cases should be analyzed to find the best solution 16

17. Development Benefits • Development benefits arise from a combination of increased work load and reduced transport costs. • Benefits may also include : • Increased production • Increased service provision • Increased industrial activity 17

18. Economic Decision Criteria • NPV IRR3 NPV/C FYRR • Project economic validity • Mutually exclusive projects • Project timing • Project screening 1 • Under budget constraint 2 • Notes: • 1. check for robustness to changes in key variables (sensitivity analysis) • . with incremental analysis 18

19. NPV and IRR • The Net Present Value (NPV) of a project alternative relative to the without project alternative is the sum of the discounted annual net benefits. • The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is the discount rate at which the NPV is zero. 19

20. NPV Decision Rule 1. If the NPV is positive, for the chosen discount rate, then the alternative is acceptable. 2. If the NPV is negative, for the chosen discount rate, then the alternative is unacceptable. 3. If the NPV is zero, for the chosen discount rate, then the alternative is indifferent to the without project alternative. 20

21. Comparison of Alternatives • When comparing project-alternatives, the Net Present Value (NPV) is used to select the optimal project-alternative (alternative with highest NPV) • The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) or the B/C ratio are not recommended to compare alternatives of a given project 21

22. Appraisals & Post Evaluations (1) • An Appraisal is carried out before an investment is made. Everything is uncertain. • A Post evaluation may be made say 5 years after the investment. The investment is known and 5yrs of with case are known. The without case is unknown as is the remainder of the with case. 22

23. Appraisals & Post Evaluations (2) • In Both Cases forecasting and evaluation models are required to come to an answer. • Hence we can never be certain about the viability of an investment ! 23

24. Cost Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) • Compares the cost of interventions with its predicted impacts and it is used where the benefits cannot be measured in monetary terms, or where the measurement is difficult • It includes provisions that (a) the objectives of the intervention are indicated and are clearly part of a ampler program of objectives (such as reduction of the poverty); and (b) the intervention represents the smaller cost alternative of obtaining the indicated objectives • It produces effectiveness indicators, such as Total Beneficiary Population per Investment or Investment per Beneficiary Population 24