A simple intuitive NPV-IRR consistent ranking

Numerous recent studies have revisited the issue of the potential conflicting NPV-IRR ranking of competing investment projects. Most have suggested procedures that resolve the conflict after performing an iso-NPV modification of at least one of the cash flows. However, none has provided a general sufficient condition that guarantees the absence of NPV-IRR ranking conflict. We define dominance between cash flow streams and show that if the streams are conventional, dominance of one stream over another ascertains no NPV-IRR ranking conflict. While dominance among original cash flows may be relatively rare, iso-NPV cross-risk adjustment and iso-NPV modification of one cash flow stream may easily reveal such dominance even if the original projects are subject to different risks. The resulting implication is a practical, simple and economically intuitive procedure that guarantees consistent NPV-IRR ranking, while minimizing the implicit or explicit distortions of the original competing cash flow streams and their IRRs.