Independent Evaluation Services in Support of the El Salvador Investment Climate Project and the Guatemala Private–Public Partnerships Activity
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Independent Evaluation Services in Support of the El Salvador Investment Climate Project and the Guatemala Private–Public Partnerships Activity

Published: Sep 09, 2024
Global Education and Workforce Development Food and Agriculture Transportation International Aid Agencies Research and Evaluation Data Analytics Evaluation Design Surveys and Data Collection Advanced Analytics

Key Findings

    • Mathematica estimated three distinct Economic Rates of Return (ERRs) for the El Salvador Investment Climate Project. Private-Public Partnerships (PPPs) was estimated to be 11.4 percent, El Salvador Investment Challenge (ESIC) was 12.9 percent; and the Regulatory Improvement Activity (RIA) was 13.5 percent, suggesting that they are cost-effective.
    • In El Salvador and Guatemala, key features of the PPP enabling environment-such as political support, institutional capacity, and a clear legal and institutional framework-have eroded since 2021.
    • The El Salvador Investment Challenge accelerated private investment around its public infrastructure investments, but additional investment from firms is not expected in the long term.
    • Government institutions in El Salvador have utilized the regulatory improvement tools to assess the costs and benefits of regulations and reduced unnecessary burdens on businesses.
MCC’s $271 million El Salvador Investment Compact (2015–2020) aimed to improve El Salvador’s competitiveness by increasing private investment through the $41 million Investment Climate Project, comprising the El Salvador Investment Challenge (ESIC), Regulatory Improvement Activity (RIA), and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) Activity. MCC’s $27.3 million Guatemala Threshold Program (2016–2021) aimed to catalyze private investment in infrastructure through its $1.5 million Public-Private Partnership Activity. MCC commissioned Mathematica to conduct independent performance evaluations of the El Salvador Investment Climate Project and the Guatemala Public-Private Partnerships Activity.

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