Exploring cost-benefit analysis of research, development and innovation infrastructures: an evaluation framework

This paper presents the results and the lessons learned on how to apply ex-ante CBQ for major RDI infrastructures by a team of economists and scientists at the University of Milan and CSIL during a three-year research project supported by a EIBURS grant of the European Investment Bank Institute. Albeit the comprehensive conceptual framework presented in the paper builds on principles firmly rooted in CBA tradition, their application to the RDI sector is still in its infancy. So far, the model has been applied on two cases in physics involving particle accelerators (the Large Hadron Collider, LHC, at CERN and the National Centre for Oncological Treatment, CNAO, in Italy).