Measurements of child poverty are commonly carried out using household expenditure data in per capita terms or adjusted by some standard parameter of economies of size. In this paper, we use adult equivalence scales and economies of scale coefficients estimated from the data to assess child...

The Millennium Development Goals have become the frame of reference for most of the development community: the standard by which performance will ultimately be judged. Given their importance, considerable attention has been paid as to whether these goals will be met or not. The overwhelming...

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...

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Tables, Figures, and Boxes -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction: Impact Evaluation for Evidence-Based Development -- 1.1 Why Does Impact Evaluation Matter? -- 1.2 The Purposes of Impact Evaluation -- 1.3 What Questions Can...

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,...

Evaluation quality is a function of methodological and data inputs. This paper argues that there has been inadequate investment in methodology, often resulting in low quality evaluation outputs. With an increased focus on results, evaluation needs to deliver credible information on the role of...

How does aid affect recipient country economic performance? This study looks at programme aid (import support, budget support and debt relief) in nine countries (Bangladesh, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia), showing how aid has had an impact on both...

There are three main approaches to analyzing the effects of aid money and aid-supported reform: before-and-after comparison; control group (simple and modified) studies; and modeling. All three approaches have been used to carry out macroeconomic analysis of policy reform. But before-and-after...