Cost-Efficiency Index of the Development Plan of Medellin, 2015

This article illustrates a microsimulation exercise on the Local Development Plan 2016-2019: Medellin Cuenta con Vos using a cost-efficiency approach [A Cost-Efficiency Analysis (CEA) when focused on the study of public policy establishes how the investment in one or several interventions impacts the well-being of the population in a quantifiable value. I will conceive this analysis as the monetary resources that are required to impact a well-being indicator in a specific percentage, what allows me to make a policy comparison]. Public projects in education, health, social inclusion, security, housing, urban integral projects (UIP), environmental development and mobility are simulated, using as an objective function the Cost-Efficiency Index of the Development Plan (CEIDP). I found that by executing the whole investment plan, the index increases by 3.07% points for the 4-year period. The most cost-efficient public interventions are those attached to the UIP. I estimate that the investment of COP 1.0 billion in the UIP projects might trigger by 0.01% the CEIDP, followed by training for work projects (COP 2.5 billion) and childhood projects (COP 2.6 billion).