1 option
Cost-Effectiveness Measurement in Development : Accounting for Local Costs and Noisy Impacts / Evans, David K.
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository (formerly "World Bank E-Library Publications") Available online
View online- Format:
- Book
- Government document
- Author/Creator:
- Evans, David K.
- Series:
- Policy research working papers.
- World Bank e-Library.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.
- Education.
- Education for All.
- Impact Evaluation.
- Public Sector Development.
- Teaching and Learning.
- Tertiary Education.
- Transport.
- Transport Economics Policy and Planning.
- Local Subjects:
- Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.
- Education.
- Education for All.
- Impact Evaluation.
- Public Sector Development.
- Teaching and Learning.
- Tertiary Education.
- Transport.
- Transport Economics Policy and Planning.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (35 pages)
- Other Title:
- Cost-Effectiveness Measurement in Development
- Place of Publication:
- Washington, D.C., The World Bank, 2014
- System Details:
- data file
- Summary:
- As evidence from rigorous impact evaluations grows in development, there have been more calls to complement impact evaluation analysis with cost analysis, so that policy makers can make investment decisions based on costs as well as impacts. This paper discusses important considerations for implementing cost-effectiveness analysis in the policy making process. The analysis is applied in the context of education interventions, although the findings generalize to other areas. First, the paper demonstrates a systematic method for characterizing the sensitivity of impact estimates. Second, the concept of context-specificity is applied to cost measurement: program costs vary greatly across contexts-both within and across countries-and with program complexity. The paper shows how adapting a single cost ingredient across settings dramatically shifts cost-effectiveness measures. Third, the paper provides evidence that interventions with fewer beneficiaries tend to have higher per-beneficiary costs, resulting in potential cost overestimates when extrapolating to large-scale applications. At the same time, recall bias may result in cost underestimates. The paper also discusses other challenges in measuring and extrapolating cost-effectiveness measures. For cost-effectiveness analysis to be useful, policy makers will require detailed, comparable, and timely cost reporting, as well as significant effort to ensure costs are relevant to the local environment.
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.