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dc.titleThe Delta of Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Infrastructure Investment: Evidence from Cost-Benefit Appraisal
dc.contributor.authorAngel Quintana, Daniel Mateo
dc.contributor.authorSuárez-Alemán, Ancor
dc.contributor.orgunitInfrastructure and Energy Sector
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.coverageThe Caribbean
dc.date.available2026-10-15T00:10:00
dc.date.issue2026-10-15T00:10:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper examines whether infrastructure projects that incorporate sustainability, inclusion, and resilience (SIR) components differ from traditional investments in economic appraisal outcomes. Using a harmonized dataset of World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank projects across energy, transport, and water sectors in Latin America and the Caribbean, we identify SIR-oriented operations through text-mining and compare them with non-SIR projects using a propensity score matching approach. Results show no statistically significant differences in standard cost benefit indicators such as internal rates of return, benefit cost ratios, or total economic costs between SIR and non-SIR projects. However, SIR projects exhibit a distinct cost structure: a higher share of discounted capital expenditures and relatively lower operating and maintenance costs, suggesting more investment-intensive designs and better long-term adaptation. This difference has important policy implications: by concentrating costs upfront and reducing recurrent expenses, SIR projects improve cost predictability, enhance resource allocation efficiency, and strengthen fiscal responsibility. At the same time, current appraisal methods fail to capture the broader benefits of SIR investments, underscoring the need for improved data and valuation frameworks to measure resilience and inclusion gains. This study provides one of the first empirical assessments of SIR considerations in economic appraisal and highlights the priority of advancing methodologies to reflect their true value.
dc.format.extent33
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0014562
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/The-Delta-of-Sustainable-Inclusive-and-Resilient-Infrastructure-Investment-Evidence-from-Cost-Benefit-Appraisal.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectEconomy
dc.subjectCost-Benefit Analysis
dc.subjectInfrastructure Development
dc.subjectInfrastructure Investment
dc.subjectSustainable Infrastructure
dc.subjectSustainability
dc.subjectResilience
dc.subjectDiversity and Inclusion
dc.subjectCapital Formation
dc.subjectInfrastructure Work
dc.subjectEvaluation
dc.subject.jelcodeD60 - Welfare Economics: General
dc.subject.jelcodeD63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
dc.subject.jelcodeH43 - Project Evaluation • Social Discount Rate
dc.subject.jelcodeH54 - Infrastructures • Other Public Investment and Capital Stock
dc.subject.jelcodeO18 - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis • Housing • Infrastructure
dc.subject.jelcodeQ56 - Environment and Development • Environment and Trade • Sustainability • Environmental Accounts and Accounting • Environmental Equity • Population Growth
dc.subject.keywordsInfrastructure Investment;Sustainability;Resilient Infrastructure;Resiliency;Inclusive infrastructure;Project evaluation;cost-benefit analysis
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01896
idb.operationRG-E2040
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