Social and Techno-Economic Feasibility Study for The Implementation of An Educational Services Center in The Dominican Republic: Perspectives from A Comprehensive Methodology

Abstract

This research work presents a comprehensive methodology based on a social, technical, and economic evaluation study of a proposal educational services center in the Dominican Republic. For this purpose, a social survey, a technical assessment and an economic were considereded and integrated with a multi-objective optimization analysis for the best decision making. The obtained results revealed that 98% of the respondents agreed with the implementation of the center, and the technical study determined that an initial investment of $ 31,200 USD is required. Moreover, the economic feasibility assessment indicated that an average bank loan percentage of 5.72 ± 0.28% was the value where the initial investment is required, and the net present value are optimized. Also, the internal rate of the return value was 41.15%, the value of the payback period was 2.92 years, and the rate of investment and profitability index values were 63.18% and 1.62, respectively, which indicated that the project is highly viable since long-term economic benefits are obtained. Therefore, the comprehensive methodology presented in this work represents a valuable procedure for the best decision-making since it considers a holistic approach. Finally, this methodology can be used for its implementation in various frameworks as a plan for different investment projects in the educational, social, and health sectors in the Dominican Republic, and the obtained results demonstrated the acceptance and feasibility of the project within a local context for its integration and proliferation in the economic development of the country.