Society-level assessments: Social benefit–cost analysis
Assess causal attribution
Focus on estimating average treatment effects in relation to a counterfactual Use multiple data sources (primary and secondary) for evaluating benefits
Use innovative methods of econometric and statistical analysis
Involve first estimating impacts per unit of beneficiary and then the use of models to estimate impacts by aggregating benefits/costs across beneficiaries and over time
Focus on understanding processes, behaviors, and conditions as they are perceived by the individuals or groups being studied
Mixed method Beneficiary-level assessments: Real World Evaluation
Source: Author’s compilation.
Unable to assess causal attribution Guided by the principles of practicality and complementarities
Provide measures of relative efficiency from a society’s perspective,
expressed as a ratio between the total values of the inputs and the total
effects/impacts generated from those inputs
Use nonexperimental and nonstatistical Provide an understanding of the methods
processes and changes in conditions, behavior, and perceptions of an inter- vention ex post from the perspective of impacted units (individuals, house- holds, communities)
Establish the causal link between an
intervention and its effect and thus provide proof of project efficacy
Contribution to improving the proof
Provide estimates of the relative contribution of an aggregated
sector-level investment/effort to changes in macro-level impact indicators
Provide estimates of the size and scope of the “effectiveness” and “efficacy” of an intervention from the perspective of impacted units (individuals, house- holds, communities)