The course

This course provides an overview of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for economists.

The course begins by revisiting the foundations of CBA before moving to topics of interest to practitioners, including non-market valuation, discounting, distributional analysis, regulation, and summary measures. Attendees will benefit from insights from the literature accompanied by case studies to illustrate key concepts.

The course draws on UK Green Book appraisal techniques and guidance used in other countries and uses real world case studies to demonstrate CBA techniques applied in practice.

The third session will provide hands on experience to bring CBA to life. Course participants will work on a specially designed applied example that will allow them to generate costs and benefits suitable for an Impact Assessment. A regulatory and non-regulatory option will be compared alongside sensitivity analysis.

Who should come?

This course is suitable for:

Economists and analysts working on CBA who would benefit from an introductory overview to expand their knowledge in this area to support current or future work on business cases or impact assessments.
Economists and analysts who may not actively work on CBA but wish to expand their knowledge in this area.

Learning outcomes

The course will give you the tools to effectively understand, participate in and review cost-benefit analysis. In particular, you will:

Be confident in how the spending and regulatory policy process and approvals systems work.
Gain a solid understanding on how to approach costs and benefits estimation – particularly non-market valuation.
Gain an understanding of cost-benefit analytical techniques, e.g. discounting, optimism bias and decision criteria.
Have first-hand experience in conducting an applied CBA.

Course delivery

The course is delivered fully online over three half-day sessions. It will be presented by Catherine Connolly from economicsense and is highly interactive. A copy of the slides will be circulated after the course.

There is no need to download any apps or software as the course is delivered through a web-based application - you only need to click on a web link. Full joining instructions will be sent ahead of the course. The applied example will utilise excel (a spreadsheet will be provided) but only the most basic excel skills will be needed.

Price

The price for the course is £375 plus VAT. Your invoice will state the VAT paid and Economicsense Ltd's VAT Registration Number of 376550278.

Please contact us directly if you would like to book directly or pay by invoice at specourses@economicsense.co.uk

Your tutor

Catherine Connolly is the founder of economicsense. Catherine is on the Council of the Society of Professional Economists, and teaches economic appraisal at Queen Mary University London.

Since establishing economicsense in 2018, Catherine has taught hundreds of professionals in government ministries, corporates and regulators across the UK, delivering both online and in person training sessions. Catherine has also provided technical assistance to international economic institutions.

Prior to setting up economicsense, Catherine was a Senior Civil Servant in the British Civil Service – working among others at HM Treasury and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – and a member of the Government Economic Service. She has also worked for Deutsche Bank Research in Frankfurt, the New Zealand Treasury, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Leeds University.

Catherine studied at Otago University in New Zealand, where she gained a post-graduate honours degree, specialising in macro-economics.

Further information

Please feel free to contact us directly for more information.

Telephone: +44 7910 384755

Website: www.economicsense.co.uk

Email: specourses@economicsense.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherine-connolly-944725

SPE Courses: Overview of Cost-Benefit Analysis with Applied Example