Impact evaluations assess the degree to which a particular policy, program or policy has affected the well-being of individuals. They can play a tremendous role in making effective policy and necessitate a larger discussion in the context of efforts to improve development effectiveness. On January 15 to 16 2008 the conference “Making Smart Policy: Using Impact Evaluation for Policy Making” was held at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The conference was organized by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM), Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), and Development Economics (DEC) networks of the World Bank, with co-sponsorship by DFID and the Government of the Netherlands.
The break-out session on entitled “Anti-Poverty and Conditional Cash Transfers” was chaired by Norbert Schady, Senior Research Economist, DECRG at the World Bank. Orazio Attanasio, Professor at the University College London, delivered the first presentation. Attanasio spoke about his experience evaluating “Familias en Accion”, a conditional cash transfer program in Colombia which started in 2001 (at the same time as its evaluation). He stated that the program had two components: nutrition and education. Attanasio then outlined the evaluation strategy, pointing out early problems that came up, as well as the early results of the evaluation. He highlighted problems with attrition, and how these were overcome. Among the results, Attanasio cited the sizable effects on secondary enrollment, limited effects on primary enrollment, and that these were much higher in rural than urban areas, particularly for nutrition. Ultimately, he said, the program could work, yet not with the same results in different areas. Attanasio concluded his presentation with a discussion of the role that politics and multi-lateral agencies play in the design and success of a program such as “Famílias en Acción”.
Emanuela Galasso, Economist and Evaluation Specialist, DECRG at the World Bank presented the case of the “Jefes” program in Argentina. The program, she explained, was a public safety net implemented in the aftermath of the worst macroeconomic crisis in the country’s history, from 2001 to 2002. The result of this crisis, she stated, was a widespread drop in income, increase in poverty, rise in unemployment, as well as political and social unrest. Galasso went on to explain the government’s response to the crisis in the form of emergency safety net programs. She outlined the case made for an impact evaluation for these as well as the different research and policy questions that framed the impact evaluation. Galasso then pointed out some results, stating that while the program intended to target heads of households and people who were unemployed, a third of the beneficiaries did not meet these eligibility criteria. Nonetheless, the evaluation determined that “Jefes” did produce positive effects, such as some net income gains and protection against extreme poverty among participants. She concluded by stating that the evaluation provided credibility for the program in a very unstable and decentralized setting.
Emmanuel Skoufias, Lead Economist, PRMPR, at the World Bank was the session’s final speaker. Skoufias’ presentation covered the role of impact evaluation in the “Progresa/Oportunidades” Program in Mexico, one of the first conditional cash transfer programs in the world. Skoufias pointed out the innovative and controversial aspects of “Progressa”, such the decision to grant direct monetary transfers versus food or infra-structure, and initiative to use the new selection criteria to identify beneficiaries, among others. The rigorous independent evaluation, he explained, was one of the ways these controversial aspects of the program were managed. Skoufias explained the other advantages the impact evaluation brought to the “Progressa” program. He highlighted the fact that the project’s initial stages were not financed by the World Bank or the IDB, and that the decision to carry out the evaluation was made by the Mexican government. Skoufias outlined the different methods used for the evaluation and some of its different aspects. He continued by explaining the successes as well as the spillover effects of the “Progressa” program, including the replication of the model in numerous different countries. The session concluded with questions from the audience.
After the question and answer session, the chairs from all three break-out sessions were invited to the stage to present brief summaries of the content presented.
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