By: Lucas Figal Garone Academia, general public and governments seem to understand inequality differently. While many in academia and in the public sector focus on the measurement of the distribution of certain outcomes – e.g. income or total consumption –, in the real world, people seem to care about opportunity: that all individuals have the same opportunities to … [Read more...] about Inequality of opportunity: an emerging body of literature
Evaluation methods and techniques
Learning from failure
Failing is embarrassing and inevitable. It is for that reason that is very refreshing to find organizations that want to learn from failure, where failure is recognized and built upon, like the Canadian NGO Engineers Without Borders, led by David Damberger, and which produces an Annual Failure Report. A good reason for the flourishing of Impact Evaluations is the … [Read more...] about Learning from failure
In search of the lost data
An objection I usually hear when discussing with practitioners about using rigorous impact evaluation techniques is “…but these evaluations cost a lot of money”. I always answer that the cost of an evaluation does not depend on the method, but mainly on whether or not you need to collect primary data (I was glad to hear Paul Gertler responding in the same way during a recent … [Read more...] about In search of the lost data
A new evaluation guide for practitioners: labor market programs
With the purpose of providing support for those in charge of overseeing evaluations, we at the Office of Strategic Planning and Development Effectiveness at the IDB are producing guidelines on selected topics and methods. This allows non-evaluators to understand the key steps that are necessary for a credible evaluation to take place. Our latest publication is Building an … [Read more...] about A new evaluation guide for practitioners: labor market programs
Beyond social sectors: “Productive” Impact Evaluations
It was not a surprise, but certainly an encouraging confirmation: the use of rigorous impact evaluation methodologies has spread beyond social sectors. I just participated in the conference “Mind the Gap: From Evidence to Policy Impact” and I was glad to see that 8 out 38 parallel sessions were devoted to discussing impact evaluations of programs and projects aimed at … [Read more...] about Beyond social sectors: “Productive” Impact Evaluations