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dam-l Financial, Economic and Distributional Analysis and Large Dam Pro (fwd)

Please reply to Corli Pretorius <cpretorius@dams.org>.

-Dianne [hoping this isn't being passed on too late].


-----------------------Forwarded message:
From cpretorius@dams.org  Sat Oct  2 05:27:01 1999
Message-ID: <412C517E8333D2119AA100A0C9DBD4D7285749@damsserver.dams.org>
From: Corli Pretorius <cpretorius@dams.org>
To: list supressed
Subject: Financial, Economic and Distributional Analysis and Large Dam Pro
	jects
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 11:06:16 +0200 
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Dear Colleague

Kindly find attached an invitation to participate in the WCD Web conference.
More details on the conference are available at
http://www.dams.org/conference.asp

I would appreciate it greatly if you could forward this invitation
individuals and organisations that may be interested in participating in the
conference.

Looking forward to receive your views on financial, economic and
distributional analysis for large dam projects!

With my best wishes

Corli Pretorius
WCD Moderator
World Commission on Dams

P.O. Box 16002
Vlaeberg
8018 Cape Town
South Africa
Tel +27 21 426-4000
Fax +27 21 426-0036
E-mail: wcdmoderator@dams.org
http://www.dams.org



	Web-Conference 4 - 29 October 1999
	Financial, Economic and Distributional Analyses for Large Dams: 
	Improving Practice and Guidelines
 <<...>> 
	 The Secretariat of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) is currently
undertaking a series of thematic reviews in order to inform the Commission
in its deliberations on principles, criteria and guidelines for the
assessment of large dams. The purpose of the conference is to generate
specific ideas and recommendations on how guidelines and practice in
financial, economic and distributional analysis may be strengthened and
improved. Contributions made through the conference will inform the thematic
review paper on Financial, Economic and Distributional Analysis currently
being prepared by the WCD. 
	Financial, economic and distributional analyses are often criticised
for their inability to adequately capture the full range of costs and
benefits associated with large dam projects. Economic theory and methods,
however, have advanced significantly over the past three decades, but the
experience with incorporating these advances into current practices is
mixed. 
	The conference aims to find out where the gap between best and
current practice exists and what, if anything, can be done to improve and
strengthen guidelines and practice.
	Any discussion of this nature must give due consideration to the
wide variety of socio-economic contexts in which dam projects are planned
and executed. Matters of process, i.e. the manner in which these analyses
are undertaken, discussed, distributed, and reviewed is also a fertile area
for debate.
	The discussion will be held over a period of four weeks from 4 to 29
October 1999. The time schedule and topics are:
	Week 1 (4 to 8 October):
	The Role of Economic Information in the Project Cycle 
		Before taking on specific methodological issues it is
important to consider the role of financial, economic and distributional
analysis in the appraisal process. Questions for this week focus on what
information should be included in financial, economic and distributional
analysis and how should this information and resulting decision criteria
(e.g. IRR o r NPV) feed into the appraisal and decision-making process. 
	Week 2 (11 to 15 October):
	Valuing of Dam Project Impacts: (A) Direct Water-Related Impacts and
(B) Non-Marketed Impacts 
		The complexity of valuing even the direct water-related
impacts of dam projects is often understated, while the difficulty of
valuing non-marketed environmental and social impacts is widely recognised.
Questions for this week address key controversies about the valuation of the
various costs and benefits associated with large dams. 
	Week 3 (18 to 22 October):
	Dealing with Discount Rates, Risk and Uncertainty 
		Large dams involve the investment of large sums of money and
produce cost and benefit streams that extend far into the future. As the
intertemporal nature of dam appraisal introduces issues of discounting, risk
and uncertainty, questions for this week address the valuation of project
impacts over time. 
	Week 4 (25 to 29 October):
	Assessing Macroeconomic and Distributional Impacts 
		Due to their nature as major capital investments and their
effect on the development of entire river basins, large dams have
repercussions for the economy as a whole and generate impacts that are felt,
not only by those close to the dam, but by national and international
stakeholders. The final week of the conference will pose a number of
questions aimed at pointing the way forward for the analysis of these
impacts. 
The topics raised above represent a selected set of issues that the WCD
would like to address within its Financial, Economic and Distributional
Analysis thematic review. Contributions made on other topics related to the
thematic review will be warmly welcomed at any time during the conference.