I am the director of the John Deutsch International Program on Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis. Prior to coming to Queen's I taught at Harvard University from 1972-2000 and continue to be an Institute Fellow Emeritus of Harvard University. In 1985, I founded the Program on Investment Appraisal and Management at the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), and was its Director from 1985 to 2000. From 1989 to 1998 I was the Director of International Tax Program at the Harvard Law School. My main fields of research are public finance, investment appraisal, and economic development. From 1981 to 1984 while on leave from Harvard University I served as the Assistant Deputy Minister of Tax Policy and Legislation in the Department of Finance, Government of Canada. I have also served as an economic consultant to a number of governments and international financial institutions, including the governments of the Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Canada, Dominican Republic, India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Africa and United States, and to international financial institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and the Ford Foundation. My first degree was a B. Comm. in Economics from Carleton University in Ottawa. I then completed a M.A. in Economics from the University of Western Ontario, and a M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago.
Books:
Cost Benefit Analysis for Investment Decisions, (with CY Kuo and A C Harberger) 1st ed., Kindle Direct Publishing, 2019.
Discount Rates for The Evaluation of Public Private Partnerships, edited by David F. Burgess and Glenn P. Jenkins, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2010, ISBN: 978-1-5339-163-0 (pbk.), ISBN: 978-1-55339-164-7
Journal Articles:
Family Decision Making for Educational Expenditure: New Evidence from Survey Data for Nigeria (with Hope Anyabolu and Pejman Bahramian) Applied Economics, (on line May 2019)
The Value of Online Banking to Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from Firms Operating in the UAE Free Trade Zones (with Parvaneh Shahnoori) Applied Economics (2019)
Valuation of the Quality Attributes of Online Banking Services by Small and Medium Enterprises Engaged in International Trade (with Parvaneh Shahnoori) South African Journal of Economics Vol 87:1 (2019)
Evaluating the cost to industry of electricity outages, (with Majid Hashemi, Roop Jyoti and Aygul Ozbafli), Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning and Policy (2018)
A comparison of stated preference methods for the valuation of improvement in road safety (with Naghmeh Niroomand) Economic Analysis and Policy 59 (2018) pp 138-149
The Pension Traps of North Cyprus, (with Hasan Ulas Altiok) Turkish Studies, (2018)
Social Impact Bonds: Implementation, Evaluation, and Monitoring, (with Foroogh Nazari Chamaki, and Majid Hashemi, International Journal of Public Administration ( 2018)
An Economic Analysis for the Design of IPP Contracts for Grid-Connected Renewable Energy Projects (Sener Salci) Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 81, Part 2. January 2018,
Estimating the Value of Life and Injury for Pedestrians Using a Stated Preference Framework (with Naghmeh Niroomand) Journal of Safety Research 62 (2017)
On-Grid Solar PV versus Diesel Electricity Generation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Economics and GHG Emissions (with Saule Baurzhan) Sustainability (March 2017)
Determination Of Socially Equitable Guarantees For PPPs: A Toll-Road Case from Turkey (with İlker Ersegün Kayhan) Turkish Studies (September 2016)
Managing the Cost Overrun Risks of Hydroelectric Dams: An Application of Reference Class Forecasting Techniques (with Omotola Awojobi) Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 63 (2016)
Estimating the willingness to pay for reliable electricity supply: a choice experiment study (with Aygul Ozbafli), Energy Economics, 56(2016)
An Economic Appraisal of Solar Versus Combined Cycle Electricity Generation for African Countries That Are Capital Constrained (with Saule Baurzhan), Energy and Environment, 2016,Vol 27(2)
An Economic Analysis of Policies for Promoting Economically Efficient Water Heater Systems Operating Under Seasonal Climatic Conditions, (with Arif Yurtsev), Energy and Environment, 2016,
Estimating the value of life, injury, and travel time saved using a stated preference framework. (with Naghmeh Niroomand), Journal of Accident Prevention and Analysis, 91(2016)
Off-grid Solar PV: Is it an affordable or an appropriate solution for rural electrification in sub-Saharan African countries? (with Saule Baurzhan), Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews , 60 (2016)
Contract farming risks: a quantitative assessment. (with Arkins Kabungo), South African Journal of Economics and Management Sciences 19, (2016)
Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Alternative Water Heater Systems Operating with Unreliable Water Supplies. (with Arif Yurtsev), Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 54, (2016)
Informality in a micro economy: Measurement, composition and consequences. (with M. Besim and T. Ekici) International Labor Review, Vol. 154 (2015) No 3
The Willingness to Pay by Households for Improved Reliability of Electricity Service in North Cyprus. (with Aygul Ozbafli), Energy Policy 87, (2015)
Consumer Preferences for Improvements in Mobile Telecommunication Services. (with Orhan Dagli), Telematics and Informatics (2015), 33(1):
Were the Hydro Dams Financed by the World Bank from 1976 to 2005 Worthwhile? (with Omotola Awojobi), Energy Policy (2015),
Measuring the Foreign Exchange Premium and the Premium for Non-Tradable Outlays for twenty Countries in Africa (with Chun-Yan Kuo and Sener Salci), South African Journal of Economics Vol 88.2 June 2015.
Innovation, Fiscal Prudence and Social Equity in the Social Security Reforms of Northern Cyprus (with Hasan U. Altiok), İktisat İşletme ve Finans, Vol: 30, Issue: 349, April 2015,
Musings on the Social Discount Rate (with Arnold. C. Harberger), Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, March 2015, 6(01):
Cost-Effective Infrastructure Choices in Education: Location, Build or Repair (with Armin Zeinali), South African Journal of Economics and Management Sciences, Vol: 18, No: 1, March 2015,