Economics of project analysis: a practitioner's guide

The Economics of Project Analysis: A Practitioner's Guide is written for project practitioners, for instructors in agricultural project economic analysis, and for students of that subject. The Practitioner's Guide extends and complements the discussion of project and policy economics contained in the second edition of Economic Analysis of Agricultural Projects, by J. Price Gittinger-referred to throughout this volume as Gittinger (1982).
Gittinger (1982) was written primarily with the noneconomist in mind. Its objective was to assist agricultural project practitioners in carrying out the financial and economic appraisal of projects in their sector. Chapter 7 of that text provides the guidance needed for project appraisers-whether they be economists or noneconomists-to carry out the economic analysis of the most common types of agricultural projects in developing countries. However, Gittinger does not attempt to teach noneconomists how to derive the shadow prices that have come to be called "national economic parameters." Nor does Gittinger deal with the more complicated issues sometimes associated with estimating project-related shadow prices (e.g., those for fuelwood or for fresh milk-dealt with in Part V of this volume), or conduct the broader analysis of policy issues regarding the sector (except in "Trade Policy Signals from Project Analysis," pages 271-278).