Improving Transport Project Appraisals
In the Islamic Countries
28
The publicity element, in any case, points to two other broader issues. First, the quality incentive
of evaluators. Project evaluators that know that their work is not going to be publicly available
may have less incentive to spend effort on their tasks, as they may think that after all their
mistakes will not be exposed to much publicity. Second, the stakeholder involvement into the
appraisal process. Which stakeholder are involved, how their selection takes place, at which
phase of the project preparation, and what role their contribution plays in the decision-making
process are related questions to address. When reports are publicly available, appraisal reports
can be used for public debate and official hearings, thus shifting the political debate on more
evidence-based arguments. Public acceptability is an important determinant of the project
success especially when a project brings about transport pricing changes. In such cases, is
fundamental to consider the perceptions and attitudes of the general public and stakeholders
(see chapter 12 in Mackie and Nellthorp Eds, 2003).
1.2.3 Capacity and tools for project appraisal
At the boundary between the institutional dimension and the technical one, this aspect includes
a) capacity; b) the development of tools and c) standards to guide the project appraisal activity.
Elements include the following: a) guidelines; b) standards and guidelines.
Table 1.4: Elements of the capacity and tools aspect
Aspect Elements included
Capacity and
tools
1. Capacity: Is technical capacity constantly monitored and ensured? Is there
a systematic training and dissemination programme to improve internal
capacity (with periodic monitoring of the alignment to state-of -the-art
methodologies)? Is training in project evaluation provided? If yes, by whom?
2. Tools: Are there standard tools such as models or templates that shall be
followed for analysis and reporting? Are general and specific guidelines
developed?
3. Standards and guidelines : Are there specific legal requirements on the
content of the appraisal report or is there no clear standard required? Are
there references parameters (e.g. time horizon, discount rates) and unit
values provided in a prescriptive way or does the project analyst enjoy
flexibility in performing the analysis?
Ad 1) Capacity
Capacity of the public sector branches in charge of performing and reviewing project appraisal
lies at the core of public investment management. Depending on the role of the administration,
especially whether it reviews appraisal contracted externally or it actually performs the
appraisal internally, technical and strategic capacity can be of different nature. Even when
technical reports are contracted to external consultants, the capacity to manage and review the
work of such experts is crucial in order to have high quality project appraisal reports. Clearly, when
project appraisal is delegated to private consultants hired on the market, internal capacity
relates to the need to review and react to the results provide by external professionals. In such