Appraisal: Some Considerations from the Past and a Challenge for the Future

This short note has the objective of stimulating a debate on the nature of Appraisal in the light of the recent evolution of the evaluation procedures and of the application areas. After a brief reference to the founding principles codified in the last century, the capacity of statistical-quantitative procedures to replace the role of “expertise” in evaluations is discussed. Finally, the note highlights how the discipline defined by the classic texts of the middle of the last century is still current and effective and that, more or less consciously, even the most recent scientific literature is placed in the wake of the classical economic-estimative tradition.