White Paper: ROI in the Public Sector

Content

Public sector organizations have been aware of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for centuries. CBA was originally developed to assess the feasibility of large public projects, first in France in the 1600s, then in the United States in the early 1900s. Public sector organizations have since applied CBA to a variety of programs including education, training, and development. Traditional CBA, however, looks only at long-term benefits and often overlooks other important variables that could influence those benefits.

Public sector organizations have been aware of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for centuries. CBA was originally developed to assess the feasibility of large public projects, first in France in the 1600s, then in the United States in the early 1900s. Public sector organizations have since applied CBA to a variety of programs including education, training, and development. Traditional CBA, however, looks only at long-term benefits and often overlooks other important variables that could influence those benefits.