THE APPRAISAL OF TRANSPORT PROJECTS: ASSESSING INDIRECT BENEFITS

It is well known that much can be gained especially in improving the prognoses of the direct beneits of transport within a CBA (cost benefit analysis) framework. However, in the Netherlands a key topic was how to deal with the indirect effects and spatial distribution effects within such a framework. One reason for this is the presence of imperfect competition and market failure. An underlying assumption in the appraisal of transport improvements is that direct benefits and costs (such as reductions in travel time) can be translated into wider economic effects( such as effects on the national or regional business climate). Crucially, the final effects are assumed to have the same total value as the initial impacts, and to be not additional to them. (A) For the covering abstract see ITRD E107667.