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P17


Sustainability and the role of development projects 
Convenors:
David Potts (University of Bradford)
Ola Sholarin (University of Westminster)
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Location:
J19 (Richmond building)
Start time:
8 September, 2017 at
Time zone: Europe/London
Session slots:
1

Short Abstract:

This panel examines the efficacy of development projects, and their contribution to development. How do we know if they contribute to sustainable economic growth or whether the benefits derived from them are shared in an equitable way? Are the methods available to answer such questions actually used?

Long Abstract:

In 2010 the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group produced a substantial report (IEG2010) that found that the proportion of their projects including some form of cost benefit analysis had declined from 70% to 25% while only half of this decline could be attributed to changes in the sectoral nature of projects funded. The underlying implication was that they were getting worse at their job and that this has had potential consequences for the performance of the projects that they finance. While there have been debates about the relative importance of project planning and sector based programmes it remains the case that a very high proportion of investment in development, particularly by development banks, is undertaken through projects. At the same time the focus of academic literature on development has moved away from the viability and sustainability of projects to concentrate on broader policy issues. To what extent are the projects that are financed to promote development sustainable? How effectively do they contribute to economic growth and are the benefits derived from such growth shared in an equitable manner? Are the methodologies available to answer such questions used in practice and if not, why not?

Accepted papers:

Session 1