Learning outcomes

The focus of the course is on the economic evaluation of projects with major impacts from the societal standpoint, for which the information provided by relevant markets is incomplete. The discussion of the theoretical background, mainly based on applied “welfare economics” will be carried on along with the introduction to the techniques typically employed to tackle practical issues in economic evaluation. Students will learn how to integrate information from financial and economic evaluations at the different stages in the project life-cycle. These issues will be also discussed with reference to EU guide-lines for projects candidate to access “structural funds”.
Case studies from a variety of sectors will be presented. Students attending the course will be given the opportunity to work autonomously on a specific case study.

Program

- Financial and economic evaluation in the project life-cycle
- Introduction to large projects financing and evaluation in the EU context
- Applied “welfare economics”: costs and benefits evaluation with market imperfections
- Techniques for evaluation when a market does not exist
- EU guide-lines for cost-benefit analysis of investment projects (Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docgener/guides/cost/guide2008_en.pdf)
- Risk assessment
- Assessing the convenience of public financing vs. Public Private Partnership (PPP)

There is no single textbook on which lectures are based. Specific readings will be suggested during the course. However, students may find very useful consulting the following textbooks:

Examination Methods

The evaluation will be based on a written examination (including both theoretical and practical questions), followed by an oral (for students who have passed the first part).