Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices, by Shahidur R. Khandker, Gayatri B. Koolwal, Hussain A. Samad, The World Bank, Washington DC, 2010, online at http://tinyurl.com/cm4q99v
Identifying the precise effects of a policy is a complex and challenging task. This issue is particularly salient in an uncertain economic climate, where governments are under great pressure to promote programs that can recharge growth and reduce poverty. At the World Bank, our work is centered on aid effectiveness and how to improve the targeting and effi cacy of programs that we support. As we are well aware, however, times of crisis as well as a multitude of other factors can inhibit a clear understanding of how interventions work—and how effective programs can be in the long run.
Handbook on Impact Evaluation: Quantitative Methods and Practices makes a valuable contribution in this area by providing, for policy and research audiences, a comprehensive
overview of steps in designing and evaluating programs amid uncertain and potentially confounding conditions. It draws from a rapidly expanding and broadbased literature on program evaluation—from monitoring and evaluation approaches
to experimental and nonexperimental econometric methods for designing and conducting impact evaluations.