The management and design of economic development projects: A case study of World Bank electricity projects in Egypt

Thesis/Dissertation · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7170564

El Sabaa, S M

This study is concerned with the efficiency of World Bank projects in Egypt. The study seeks improvements in the methods of evaluating public sector projects in Egypt. To approaches are employed: (1) project identification to optimally allocate Egypt's and World Bank's resources; (2) project appraisal to assess the economic viability and efficiency of investments. The electricity sector is compared with the agriculture sector as a means of employing project identification for priority ordering of investment for development in Egypt. The key criteria for evaluation are the impacts of developments of each sector upon Egypt's national objectives and needs. These include employment opportunities, growth, alleviation of poverty, cross comparison of per capita consumption in each sector, economic rate of return, national security, balance of payments and foreign debt. The allocation of scarce investments would have been more efficient in agriculture than in electricity in meeting Egypt's national objectives and needs. World Bank lending programs in Egypt reveal a priority ordering of electricity over agriculture and rural development. World Bank development projects in Egypt have not been optimally identified, and its programs have not followed an efficient allocation of World Bank's and Egypt's resources. The key parameters in evaluating economic viability and efficiency of development projects are: (1) the discount rate (the opportunity cost of public funds); (2) the exchange rate; and (3) the cost of major inputs, as approximated by shadow prices of labor, water, electricity, and transportation for development projects. Alternative approaches to estimating the opportunity cost of public funds are made. The parameters in evaluating the efficiency of projects have not been accurately estimated in the appraisal stage of the World Bank projects in Egypt, resulting in false or misleading information concerning the economic viability and efficiency of the projects.

• Research Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7170564
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290201* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics-- (1992-)
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
AFRICA
AGRICULTURE
ARAB COUNTRIES
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMICS
EGYPTIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
INVESTMENT
MIDDLE EAST
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
PUBLIC UTILITIES