The application of benefit-cost analysis, especially the valuation of environmental quality effects, comes only after one has obtained a good knowledge of the basic theories, management contexts, and natural systems analyses. This guide can help decision makers by presenting already existing analytical approaches and techniques that can be used to incorporate environmental quality concerns into the economic analyses of projects, programs, and development strategies. The chapters are organized to cover an introduction, institutional and planning processes, basic principles of benefit-cost analysis, measurement of a specific activity, the effects of residuals on natural systems, the market and survey techniques for evaluating environmental quality and natural-systems effects, economic valuation from the cost side, and techniques of input-output analysis. 15 references, 92 figures, 88 tables.

Five cases of water resources management experiences in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand are briefly analysed, using a systems‐oriented conceptual framework that emphasizes three important dimensions of management. Important water resources management problems or issues identified in the analyses include: (i) adverse social effects of relocation of people from reservoir areas; (ii) adverse reservoir sedimentation effects of upstream erosion; (iii) issues of allocation of scarce water resources among competing uses; and (iv) failures in implementing project plans. Suggestions are made for a new water resources management strategy for developing countries that would build on past experience to deal more effectively with these problems and issues.

tools evolved from microeconomic theory and principles and practices of systems analysis into the methodology for benefit-cost analysis (U. S.

This book discusses the methods of evaluating seven case studies. Three chapters are introductory discussing a hypothetical case. The following seven chapters discuss respectively: Economic Evaluation of Tongonan Geothermal Power Plant Project in Leyte, Philippines; Evaluation of Losses of Marine Product Resources Caused by Coastal Development of Tokyo, Bay; Evaluation of Lumpinee Public Park in Bangkok, Thailand; The Pam Pong Water Resources Project in Thailand; Selected Policy Options for the Fuelwood Production and Use in the Philippines; and Systematic Analysis of Water Pollution Control Options in a Suburban Region of Beijing, China.

PRE-WAR BEGINNINGS The issue of applying economic benefit-cost tests t o public investment projects first arose in the United States (U.S.) during the great econom ic depression of the 1930s. Under the “New Deal” administration of Franklin Roosevelt, massive programs of pub lic works were mounted to provide jobs and to stimulate the collapsed economy. The question soon arose of how to assess the social worth or value of individual projects. It was apparent that the customary financial pay-out tests applied to private investment projects were not ap propriate for most public projects such as highways, reservoirs, canals, and harbors. Y et, few satisfactory tests of econ omic worth for public projects had been developed, largely because the need for such tests had not been perceived as important.

Effective and efficient water resources management to meet the increasing demands for food, energy, and domestic and industrial water is an imperative for Asian countries. As a basis for analyzing Asian water resources management problems, a three‐element conceptual framework is presented: (1) water resources management as a system, composed of a set of facilities, operating rules, and incentives applied to water resources through an institutional arrangement; (2) water resources management as a process involving several stages beginning with planning and continuing with design, construction, operation and maintenance; and (3) water resources management as a set of linked activities and tasks required to produce the desired outputs. Using this framework to assess performance it is possible to analyze the linkages among water resources problems, water resources management, and water resources organizations and administrative arrangements. Examples are presented of such linkages as applied to problems of erosion and sedimentation, flooding, salinity, water demand‐supply imbalances, and water pollution. Brief analytical summaries of eight critical water resources management problems in Asia are presented, along with an illustration of the complexity of water resources organization and administration, using Thailand as the example.