Description
With Joanne Leung, Ministry of Transport and Kirsten Jensen, NZ Treasury
Cost: This course is provided by the Government Economics Network (GEN) at a cost of $750 plus GST per person.
Date/Time: 9am – 5pm, Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 July 2023
Location: Room 3.31, NZ Treasury
Target Audience and assumed background
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.
Description
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.
Feedback
“Overall, a fantastic course that I will certainly recommend to others.”
“I appreciated being able to work through real-world examples…”
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 a 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).
Session outline and delivery
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
- Components of a cost-benefit analysis
- Intervention logic mapping
- Identifying cost and benefit items
- Carrying out a qualitative cost-benefit analysis
Day 2
- Overview of valuation of costs and benefits
- Sourcing cost and benefit values
- Key steps to carry out a quantitative cost-benefit analysis
- Handling costs and benefits over time
- Treatment of uncertainty
- Presentation of analysis, results and recommendation
- Practical application of the CBAx tool
Cancellation policy
By submitting this Registration Form, you are confirming your availability to attend the GEN Training Course.
- Cancellation will not be accepted. The booking will be charged and invoiced with the full fee.
- If a registrant is unable to attend the course, the registration may be transferred to another suitable person to attend 2 days before start. All transfer requests must include the new attendee’s name, email address and telephone number and received in a written format and can be emailed to info@gen.org.nz.
- No refunds will be given by GEN for no-shows.
DECLARATION: I hereby certify that I am duly authorised to complete this registration form and have read and understand the terms and conditions as stipulated above.
