COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS (C-B analysis) assigns monetary values to the benefits of a programme/project. The latter is relatively straight-forward when there exists a market for the outputs. In the same way a commercial enterprise calculates the return on an investment, a C-B analysis will result in an estimation of the net present value or the internal rate of return of programme/project. C-B analysis is, however, normally concerned with the social costs and the social benefits of projects rather than pure market values. The measurements will differ if and when the markets in which the inputs and/or the outputs are traded are distorted. In order to calculate the social return on a programme/project, the costs and benefits will have to be adjusted upwards or downwards in relation to their observed market values. C-B analysis can also be used to analyse programmes/projects which result in non-marketed outputs if a value for the latter can be deduced with some reasonable degree of confidence. Thus a full cost-benefit approach can be used with education programmes/projects calculating the benefits of education on the basis of estimates of future earnings for different cohorts stratified by educational level.