Syllabus

NA0153 Cost Benefit Analysis of Agricultural and Environmental Projects, 7.5 Credits

Subjects

Education cycle

Modules

Advanced study in the main field

Grading scale

Language

Prior knowledge

Objectives

Many decisions regarding cost and benefits of different tasks are made in everyday life. For example, a household compares costs and benefits from buying a new environmentally friendly car. The cost benefit tests are also carried out for much larger projects such as changes in national transport systems. Common to most projects is the need for attaching costs and benefits to different items which can be difficult to assess such as the value of life or cost of the risk for future catastrophic events from, e.g., nuclear power works. The purpose of this course is to give theoretical and empirical knowledge on design of cost benefit studies applied mainly on environmentally related projects. After passing the course, the students will

• be able to determine whether or not a project is suitable for cost benefit analysis

• analyse the concept of social cost

• have knowledge on different techniques for cost and benefit estimates

• give account of what factors can have dramatic impacts on the estimated cost and benefits

• know how to account for intangible costs or benefits of a project

• describe the impact of time perspective on the outcome of a project

• know how to account for distributional impacts of a project on for example different

  households and regions

• analyse the possibilities and limitations of CBA

Content

Topics described and analysed are:

• comparison of different cost and benefit estimation techniques

• the role and choice of appropriate discount rate

• considerations of distributional incidences of projects (for example among household

  groups, regions, or different production sectors)

• financial analysis techniques such as break even analysis, option value, net present value and

  internal rate of return

• cost effectiveness and computable general equilibrium analyses

• development of own CBA case studies

Grading form

Formats and requirements for examination

Project task and exercises.

Passed project task and exercises.

• If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.

• The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.

• If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.

• For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

Other information

• The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.

• If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.

Responsible department

Department of Economics