Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices

Description

The 'Handbook on Impact Evaluation' provides a practical and comprehensive overview of the latest impact evaluation methods for public programs, targeted towards researchers as well as policy makers. This book bridges the latest econometric research on impact evaluation with the field experience of program officials and evaluators. The authors outline and discuss econometric methods for designing and evaluating programs; these include experimental and nonexperimental approaches, as well as methods for examining distributional and structural impacts of programs. Discussions and recent case studies are presented for each chapter that draw on the practical experience of program officials and researchers in implementing different initiatives including policies on schooling, microfinance, health, and infrastructure. For researchers interested in learning how to use these models with statistical software, the Handbook also provides STATA exercises in the context of evaluating major microcredit programs in Bangladesh, such as the Grameen Bank. The 'Handbook' can be used in upper-level undergraduate policy and economics courses and in graduate policy courses, as well as a supplemental text in graduate development economics courses. The 'Handbook' will be useful for students, researchers, and policy makers.