Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Course Description and Objectives
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.
Pre-requisites
Students should have introductory level of micro-economics.
Course Format
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.
Assignments and Grading
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:
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGEs |
|---|---|
| Five Problem Sets | 60% |
| Two Written Assignments | 40% |