Courses:

This is a practical course that teaches techniques of project evaluation with special consideration for the developing world context. It also provides a critical analysis of these tools and their role in the political economy of international development. The goal is to make students adept at using and managing project evaluation.

Students will first learn the financial analysis of investment expenditures and then proceed to the economic and distributive appraisal of such projects. Students will also consider:

• Project cycle management, preconditions and assumptions, and its iterative structure.
• Alternative planning strategies for conditions of uncertainty.
• Organizational factors involved in developing new policies, choosing among alternatives, gaining acceptance, assuring implementation, and coping with unanticipated consequences.
• Political environment and the interactions of clients and advisers, engineers, planners, policy analysts, and other professionals.

Students should have introductory level of micro-economics.

Class will meet for lectures. Students will then practice applying the course material in problem sets. The teaching assistant will also be available to meet with students during his office hours for assistance with the assignments.

There will be five cost-benefit analysis problem sets and two shorter memos. Late submissions will be graded with a penalty.

The assignments will be graded according to the following weights: