The basic idea of program evaluation is both simple and appealing. Program outcomes are measured and compared to some minimum performance standard or threshold. In practice, however, evaluation is quite difficult. Two fundamental problems of outcome measurement must be addressed. The first,...

The idea of program evaluation is both simple and appealing. Program outcomes are measured and compared to some minimum performance standard or threshold. In practice, however, evaluation is difficult. Two fundamental problems of outcome measurement must be addressed. The first, which we call...

Bolivia's Emergency Social Fund (ESF) was established to cushion the adverse effects on the poor of the economic crisis and subsequent stabilization program in the 1980s and to facilitate transition through the phases of structural adjustment. The ESF provided temporary employment opportunities...

This article reviews the results of an impact evaluation of small-scale rural infrastructure projects in health, water, and education financed by the Bolivian Social Investment Fund. The impact evaluation used panel data on project beneficiaries and control or comparison groups and applied...