Economics Of Evaluation In Public Programs

This research collection illustrates the wide range of methodologies and methods available for the evaluation of public programs. All these methods address the benefits of the programs and most compare the benefits to costs, but the types of benefits and their measures vary greatly across the studies and across the different types of public programs. The key articles presented here explore these different approaches and offer many examples of actual evaluations of public programs across different public policy settings. Professor Link and Professor Scott have provided an authoritative original introduction, which elucidates this diversity of approaches and settings and challenges scholars to contemplate an evaluation in terms of its theoretical foundation.

Evaluation in recent decades has evolved from a tool for project appraisals to a more widely used framework for public decision-making and operational management. Most evaluation books are focused on traditional tools of analysis such as cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis to the neglect of modern tools such as multi-criteria evaluation, social marginal cost of funds analysis, data envelopment analysis, results-oriented management and evaluation and theory based evaluations. This edited volume provides an easily accessible and comprehensive survey of both traditional and modern tools of analysis that are used in the evaluation literature to evaluate public projects, programs, policies and policy analysis and advice. The book will be of interest to students, scholars, researchers, practitioners and policy makers.

'The economic crisis has simultaneously placed a strong emphasis on the role of R&D as an engine of economic growth and a demand that limited public resources are demonstrated to have had the maximum possible impact. Rigorous evaluation is the key to meeting these needs. This Handbook brings together highly experienced leaders in the field to provide a comprehensive and well-organised state-of-the-art overview of the range of methods available. It will prove invaluable to experienced practitioners, students in the field and more widely to those who want to increase their understanding of the complex and pervasive ways in which technological advance contributes to economic and social progress.' – Luke Georghiou, University of Manchester, UK 'Theoretical and empirical research on program evaluation has advanced rapidly in scope and quality. A concomitant trend is increasing pressure on policymakers to show that programs are "effective". Now is the time for a comprehensive status report on state-of-the-art research and methods by leading scholars in a variety of disciplines on program evaluation. This outstanding collection of contributions will serve as a valuable reference tool for academics, policymakers, and practitioners for many years to come.' – Donald S. Siegel, University at Albany, SUNY, US There has been a dramatic increase in expenditures on public goods over the past thirty years, particularly in the area of research and development. As governments explore the many opportunities for growth in this area, they – and the general public – are becoming increasingly concerned with the transparency, accountability and performance of public programs. This pioneering Handbook offers a collection of critical essays on the theory and practice of program evaluation, written by some of the most well-known experts in the field. As this volume demonstrates, a wide variety of methodologies exist to evaluate particularly the objectives and outcomes of research and development programs. These include surveys, statistical and econometric estimations, patent analyses, bibliometrics, scientometrics, network analyses, case studies, and historical tracings. Contributors divide these and other methods and applications into four categories – economic, non-economic, hybrid and data-driven – in order to discuss the many factors that affect the utility of each technique and how that impacts the technological, economic and societal forecasts of the programs in question. Scholars, practitioners and students with an interest in economics and innovation will all find this Handbook an invaluable resource.

This book provides a self-contained presentation of the statistical tools required for evaluating public programs, as advocated by many governments, the World Bank, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. After introducing the methodological framework of program evaluation, the first chapters are devoted to the collection, elementary description and multivariate analysis of data as well as the estimation of welfare changes. The book then successively presents the tools of ex-ante methods (financial analysis, budget planning, cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and multi-criteria evaluation) and ex-post methods (benchmarking, experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation). The step-by-step approach and the systematic use of numerical illustrations equip readers to handle the statistics of program evaluation. It not only offers practitioners from public administrations, consultancy firms and nongovernmental organizations the basic tools and advanced techniques used in program assessment, it is also suitable for executive management training, upper undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as for self-study.

This readable and comprehensive text is designed to equip students and practitioners with the statistical skills needed to meet government standards regarding public program evaluation. Even those with little statistical training will find the explanations clear, with many illustrative examples, case studies, and applications. Far more than a cookbook of statistical techniques, the book begins with chapters on the overall context for successful program evaluations, and carefully explains statistical methods--and threats to internal and statistical validity--that correspond to each evaluation design. Laura Langbein then presents a variety of methods for program analysis, and advise readers on how to select the mix of methods most appropriate for the issues they deal with-- always balancing methodology with the need for generality, the size of the evaluator's budget, the availability of data, and the need for quick results.

As concern over costs grows in the health care sector, those involved in health economics require a clear understanding of methods used in cost-effectiveness, cost benefit, and cost-utility studies. This book provides the reader with the necessary methodological tools for undertaking the task of economic evaluation and includes discussions of many case studies, helpful illustrations, and simple exercises.