Evaluation of Stakeholder Impacts in Cost-Benefit Analysis

Glenn P. Jenkins Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.

Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus.

Development Discussion Paper Number: 1999-10 Abstract The scope of the analyses of public and private investment projects is expanded beyond the traditional criteria of financial and economic net present value. If the economic and financial analyses are carried out using a common numeraire, they can include issues of stakeholder impacts, poverty impact, and an assessment of the long-term sustainability of the project. We can assess the income impacts on different interest groups. This forces the analyst to do reconciliation between the economic performance, the financial performance and the distributional impacts of project. Three examples are given of projects in Cyprus, Bangladesh and the Philippines: traditional economic and financial analyses would not have identified many of the most important aspects of the process that determined whether or not the projects would be implemented and sustainable. Presented at: Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, Volume 17, number 2, June 1999, pages 87-96, Beech Tree Publishing, 10 Watford Close, Gulidford, Surrey GU1 2EP, UK. JEL code(s):H43 Key words: stakeholder impact, cost-benefit analysis, investment appraisal.