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San José, Costa Rica

6-7 December 2017

2nd TOSSD TASK FORCE MEETINGItem 8. Options for measuring technical co-operation

Outline

• Discussions during the 1st Task Force Meeting

• Estimating the monetary value of technical co-operation

• Non monetary aspects of TC (value added)

I. Discussions during 1st Task Force meeting:

• No consensus

– Some defended use of purchasing power parity (PPP)

– Others: depending on situation (hiring process)

– Further analysis necessary

II. Estimating the monetary value of technical co-operation

• Identified need to include quantitative aspects, includingcost estimates

• Implications of tendering process– OECD recommends that when experts are hired externally and

internationally (through an international tender process ordirectly hired but paid in international currencies) the price of thecontract is recorded in TOSSD

• In-kind technical co-operation– Option 1: measure the opportunity cost, apply PPP factor

– Option 2: use an international wage table that monetisestechnical co-operation provided by experts with equivalent levelof experience.

Average daily wage

X days

As of 1st January 2017

II. Estimating the monetary value of technical co-operation

UN professional staff salary table

II. Estimating the monetary value of technical co-operation

Purchasing power parity (PPP) factors in practice

• PPP factors estimated through the International ComparisonProgram (ICP) of the World Bank.

• Examples of use: SDG and MDG frameworks, HumanDevelopment Index, Poverty rates.

Timeliness• Most recent ICP program released in 2014 (reference year

2011).• WB releases yearly PPP figures

– extrapolating from the 2011 program benchmark estimates; or– imputing through a statistical model– for 47 countries, conversion factors provided by OECD and Eurostat.

A comparative analysis: sending 50 medical doctors

RecommendationThe OECD would recommend option 2, using international wage tables.This accounts the same amount of money for the same type ofresource provided, regardless of the country providing the experts.

Costs Cuba France Argentina

Daily salary per doctor (National Currencies (*)) 1 150 60

Total cost national currencies (*) 1,000 225,000 90,411

Total cost USD 1,000 248,894 6,126

Total cost PPP 280,025 9,810

Total cost UN salary (7 years) 414,198 414,198 414,198

* USD, Euro and Argentinan pesos

II. Estimating the monetary value of technical co-operation

Issues for discussion

• Do you agree that the treatment of technical co-operation should be linked to the hiring process (international vs. national)?

• What is your preferred option for estimating the monetary cost of providing in-kind technical co-operation?

• Option 1: measuring the opportunity costs and applying PPP factors

• Option 2: International wage table

II. Estimating the monetary value of technical co-operation

III. Non-monetary aspects of technical co-operation

• Non-monetary aspects could be collected e.g.number of experts deployed or number of days ofthe TC intervention.

• Indicators of the value-added of TC could be addedto complement the monetary information.

III. Non-monetary aspects of technical co-operation

Indicators on outcomes and/or impact:• How many professionals were trained (if any)?• Was/were the topics of intervention identified as development constraints or opportunities in

the country strategies (whether at national, regional or local level)?• What outputs/outcomes were foreseen in the log-frame or the documentation of the TC

activity?• Were the outputs generated by the TC (technical co-operation) used to: (i) inform new

government policy or programme? (ii) Inform new legislation or regulation? (iii) Create, changeor improve institutions? (iv) Support design or implementation of development co-operationprojects? (v) Other (specify)?

Indicators for ownership• Who initiated/requested this TC activity?• Was the beneficiary agency actively involved throughout the implementation of the TC activity?• Was the TC activity co-financed by the beneficiary?

Indicators for sustainability• How are the results of the TC activity expected to be sustained after its completion?• Does the TC activity encourage the transfer of successful experiences?

III. Non-monetary aspects of technical co-operation

Issues for discussion

• Do you agree that qualitative information on technical co-operation should also be provided by reporters to complement quantitative information in the TOSSD framework?

• If so, which of the suggested qualitative aspects set out above might TOSSD capture? Do you have additional suggestions?

Thank you!