Impact Evaluation Helps Deliver Development Projects
Does research add value to aid? Specifically, does impact evaluation research help or hinder the delivery of development projects? This paper analyzes the question by constructing a new data set of 100 impact evaluations and 1,135 projects approved...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC
2015
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/01/23173058/impact-evaluation-helps-deliver-development-projects http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21154 |
| Summary: | Does research add value to aid?
Specifically, does impact evaluation research help or hinder
the delivery of development projects? This paper analyzes
the question by constructing a new data set of 100 impact
evaluations and 1,135 projects approved by the World Bank
between 2005 and 2011. The analysis finds that the delivery
of projects with impact evaluation is significantly
timelier: common delays are avoided and the gap between
planned and actual disbursements is reduced by half.
Evidence-based mid-course corrections, a clearer
implementation road map, strengthened capacity on the
ground, and observer effects are possible channels to
explain the results. Hopefully, this analysis will stimulate
discussion over the optimal balance between project
financing and the impact evaluation research needed to
deliver development outcomes. |
|---|