Cost benefit analysis for a hydraulic project: A case study

The European Community, with regulation no. 1303/2013, introduces the need to do for the “Major projects” of investment in different strategic sectors, including water supply services, a cost-benefit analysis (CBA), in order to assess their co-financing (Cohesion Fund 2014–2020). The paper presents an interesting case study of a CBA for the evaluation of a complex hydraulic system in Campania Region. The results of the study highlight, on the one hand, the strategic nature of the investment for the improvement of collective well-being and, on the other hand the well known problems and limitations in the literature related to the application of the CBA to public projects. Future developments in the methodology adopted may concern the estimation of external effects as well as an in-depth study of the choice of the social discount rate that reflects the importance of recovering existing works and therefore the need for investment in order to optimize public resources.