Course Presenter: :
Joanne Leung, Ministry of Transport
Kirsten Jensen, NZ Treasury
Date/Time: 16, 20, 23 and 31 March 2020, 9am – 1pm
Location: The Treasury, Level 3, 1 Terrace, Wellington.
There will be a 15-minute morning afternoon break in each session. Coffee and tea will be provided.
Many public policy decisions involve balancing costs and benefits. Cost-benefit analysis provides a structured framework for comparing costs to benefits and analysing which are greater overall. The objective of this course is to provide participants with an appreciation of that framework, gain a broad understanding of the economic theory that underlies cost-benefit analysis, as well as the specific quantitative steps necessary to execute a cost-benefit analysis.
On completion of this course, participants should be able to:
• identify when a policy question or issue would benefit from cost-benefit analysis;
• where appropriate, to translate a generic statement of a policy question or issue into an properly framed cost-benefit analysis;
• appreciate how costs and benefits that occur over time should be handled, including discussion of the choice and application of a discount rate;
• aware of the methods for quantifying costs and benefits that are not immediately measurable in economic terms and their roles in cost-benefit analysis;
• recognise and appropriately incorporate costs and benefits that are not possible to quantify;
• present the results of cost-benefit analysis to decision-makers in an effective manner (including how to complete NZ Treasury’s template).
| Day | Topic outline |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Introduction and learning objectives Structure of a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) The roles of CBA in policy development process Framing a cost-benefit analysis |
| Day 2 | Components of a cost-benefit analysis Intervention logic mapping Identifying cost and benefit items Carrying out a qualitative cost-benefit analysis |
| Day 3 | Overview of valuation of costs and benefits Sourcing cost and benefit values Key steps to carry out a quantitative cost-benefit analysis |
| Day 4 | Handling costs and benefits over time Treatment of uncertainty Presentation of analysis, results and recommendation |
The course will have a mixture of presentations, discussions and group exercise. About half of the time will be set aside for discussions and group exercise. We will use a range of real-life examples to illustrate the concepts, approach and process. Although it is not possible to cover all sectors or policy fields, the principles and framework to be discussed will apply to a wide range of applications. Active participant engagement and interaction in classes is expected. During the course, tutors will also go through Treasury’s CBAx tool.
This course will be most helpful to policy advisors who need to understand the basic mechanics of a cost-benefit analysis, to conduct or be able to critically review cost-benefit analyses done by others.
No previous knowledge of economics is assumed. Some familiarity with economic thinking and terminologies would be helpful. The course will sometimes mention a modest amount of mathematical formula or analysis. However, the emphasis will be around awareness of the methodology and its underlying institution rather than the actual mathematical calculation. You will not be asked to carry out any mathematical exercise as part of the assessment for this course. This course does require a willingness and ability to take part in class and group exercise.
This course is provided by the Government Economics Network (GEN) at a cost of $300 plus GST per person.