Featuring
Andrew Warner
World Bank
With Discussant
Alan Gelb
Center for Global Development
Cost-benefit analysis used to be one of the World Bank’s signature issues. It was the Bank’s answer to the results agenda long before that term became popular. This report, led by Andrew Warner, reviews four decades of World Bank project data, showing that the percentage of projects that are justified by cost-benefit analysis has been declining. The report argues for reforms to World Bank project appraisal procedures to reverse this decline and ensure that, when conducted, cost-benefit analysis is rigorous and informed by high-quality data
The presentation will draw from Warner's recent paper, Cost-Benefit Analysis in World Bank Projects.
*The Massachusetts Ave. Development Seminar (MADS) is a ten year-old research seminar series that brings some of the world’s leading development scholars to discuss their new research and ideas. The presentations meet an academic standard of quality and are at times technical, but retain a focus on a mixed audience of researchers and policymakers.
