Each compact project has a downloadable spreadsheet file containing:

• A description of the project, including its economic rationale;
• The expected project impacts, including detailed cost and benefit estimates;
• A tool allowing users to modify key assumptions and study the effects of those modifications on the project’s returns.

Some familiarity with cost-benefit analysis will be essential to use these spreadsheets.

Spreadsheet Data

What the spreadsheet data represent:

• An overall impact estimate. The spreadsheets provide MCC’s best pre-investment estimate of the likely economic impact of the project and form the basis for monitoring and evaluation efforts.
• Estimated benefits. The spreadsheets estimate the expected increases in either incomes or value added of individuals, households, firms or sectors of economic activity.
• A counterfactual scenario. Potential benefits are compared against what is likely to happen without the project (e.g., a growing economy would be expected to continue growing, even without the project).
• A snapshot in time. The spreadsheets reflect the best data available to MCC at the time the project was approved for investment.  

What the spreadsheet data do not represent:

• The sole reason for an investment decision.  Although ERRs are an integral part of MCC’s decision-making process, other factors are taken into account when MCC decides whether or not to undertake a project.
• A detailed beneficiary analysis. The ERR spreadsheets portray the overall economic impact of a project rather than apportioning the income gains along various demographic dimensions.
• Up-to-the-minute information for projects in implementation. Many of the parameters that are used in these pre-investment estimates change over time, so ERRs may not reflect the actual implementation experience. When project designs or model parameters change significantly, MCC may revise these models; updated information will be posted here as it becomes available.

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