The focus on results in development agencies has led to increased focus on impact evaluation to demonstrate the effectiveness of development programmes. A range of methods are available for counterfactual analysis of infrastructure interventions, as illustrated by the variety of papers in this...

A good-quality impact evaluation is based on an analysis of the theory of change for the intervention. Analysis of different parts of this causal chain, and the underlying assumptions, necessarily requires use of a variety of research methods. The method should fit the question, not the other...

RCTs have become popular in the development community as part of the response to the results agenda. These studies are well placed to address the question of which programmes work or not. And, properly designed, they can be embedded in a broader evaluation design which also addresses questions...

The ultimate measure of aid effectiveness is how aid affects the lives of poor people in developing countries. The huge literature on aid’s macroeconomic impact has remarkably little to say on this topic, and less still in terms of practical advice to government officials and aid...

A debate on approaches to impact evaluation has raged in development circles in recent years. This note gives some reflections on this debate through discussion of four issues. <p> First, it is pointed out that there are two definitions of impact evaluation. Neither one is right or wrong, but they...</p>

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,...

The ultimate measure of aid effectiveness is how aid ffects the lives of poor people in developing countries. The huge literature on aid’s macroeconomic impact has remarkably little to say on this topic, and less still in terms of practical advice to government officials and aid administrators...

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,...

The ultimate measure of aid effectiveness is how aid affects the lives of poor people in developing countries. The huge literature on aid?s macroeconomic impact has remarkably little to say on this topic, and less still in terms of practical advice to government officials and aid administrators...