Sector-wide approaches are being widely adopted as a new aid modality, incorporating government ownership, partnership and a move from project to programme support. The literature to date on their performance in practice is, at best, mixed. This article reviews these issues in the light of the...

Calls for rigorous impact evaluation have been accompanied by the quest not just to find out what works but why. It is widely accepted that a theory-based approach to impact evaluation, one that maps out the causal chain from inputs to outcomes and impact and tests the underlying assumptions,...

Bangladesh has experienced rapid fertility decline and reductions in under-five mortality over the last three decades. This impact study unravels the various factors behind these changes. Economic growth has been important, but so have major public sector interventions, notably reproductive...