The Price of Risk in the Assessment of Public Policies and Investments

The price of risk in the evaluation of public policies and investments is tackled here starting on one hand on the way in which the question of risk was discussed in several working groups at France Stratégie (which prepared the main references used in the frameworks of the socio economic evaluation of state investments) and on the other hand on the way in which these tools are in fact mobilized in socio-economic evaluations (which have been observed in the studies appraised in recent years in France by the General Secretariat for Investment). The article then discusses the main challenges that need to be addressed to improve the practice of studies on major projects and to ensure that the appraisals take into account adequately the risks and uncertainties surrounding expected benefits and costs and so they can be really useful in public debate and decision-making.