Knowledge Center Catalog

Evaluating the impact of economic policy research: (Record no. 6846)

MARC details
000 -LEADER
fixed length control field 07519nam a22004457a 4500
001 - CONTROL NUMBER
control field G77097
003 - CONTROL NUMBER IDENTIFIER
control field MX-TxCIM
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20211006081333.0
008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field 121211s ||||f| 0 p|p||0|| |
020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
International Standard Book Number 970-648-076-5
040 ## - CATALOGING SOURCE
Original cataloging agency MX-TxCIM
072 #0 - SUBJECT CATEGORY CODE
Subject category code A50
072 #0 - SUBJECT CATEGORY CODE
Subject category code E10
082 04 - DEWEY DECIMAL CLASSIFICATION NUMBER
Classification number 338.91
Item number WAT
100 1# - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Ryan, J.
Affiliation International conference on impacts of agricultural research and development: Why has impact assessment research not made more of a difference?
110 0# - MAIN ENTRY--CORPORATE NAME
Corporate name or jurisdiction name as entry element Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT), Mexico DF (Mexico)
111 2# - MAIN ENTRY--MEETING NAME
Meeting name or jurisdiction name as entry element International Conference on Impacts of Agricultural Research and Development
Location of meeting San José (Costa Rica)
Date of meeting 4-7 Feb 2002
245 00 - TITLE STATEMENT
Title Evaluating the impact of economic policy research:
Remainder of title Concepts, practices and lessons
260 ## - PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC. (IMPRINT)
Place of publication, distribution, etc. Mexico, DF (Mexico)
Name of publisher, distributor, etc. CIMMYT :
Date of publication, distribution, etc. 2003
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent p. 32-33
340 ## - PHYSICAL MEDIUM
Material base and configuration Printed
500 ## - GENERAL NOTE
General note Abstract only
520 ## - SUMMARY, ETC.
Summary, etc. Evaluating the impact of economic policy research remains a challenging assignment, with few ”best practices” to draw on. Case studies remain the preferred way forward in the absence of an agreed- upon impact evaluation paradigm. The major problems are those of measurement, sampling and attribution. The approach to impact evaluation is conditioned, to a significant extent, by the primary purpose that underpins such studies. For a research institution, this is to improve accountability and credibility; quality and relevance; program/project design and implementation; future planning and prioritizing. However, depending on the primary purpose, the unit of analysis and approach tend to differ. The importance of understanding policy processes when undertaking impact evaluation is discussed in the paper. This includes the pros and cons of adopting a “supply-side” versus “demand-side” perspective and recognition of the policy formulation, decision-making and implementation phases when judging the influence of policy research. The products of economic policy research can be delineated into four elements: outputs, outcomes, policy responses and final environmental and socio-economic impacts. The paper describes various indicators that can be used to articulate and measure these products and alternative qualitative and quantitative approaches that can be employed to elicit them. Key issues that continue to arise in the actual conduct of impact evaluations of economic policy research are discussed under nine headings: scale and scope; time horizon; supply- versus demand-side approaches; the importance of surprise; attribution; choice of indicators; case studies; time lags; and ex ante and ex post assessments. Methods of enhancing impact are then discussed, including the importance of effective communications and an understanding of the policy environment and processes. Lessons are drawn from a number of case studies commissioned by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) which enable an assessment of the influence and impact of IFPRI's research and related activities on a number of policy themes. The lessons are intended to guide the conduct of future impact studies; assist in articulating, measuring, and documenting successes and failures; and help enhance impacts in the future. Aspects addressed include the importance of research quality, timeliness, and communications; type of collaboration and collaborators; the policy environment; data availability; time scale; consensus building; and the breadth of experience on which to draw. The paper concludes that, in the last five years, progress has been made in the conduct of case studies designed to assess the impact of economic policy research and lessons have been drawn for the future. There has also been some progress in the development of methodologies for quantifying impact in economic terms. However, a number of issues remain. These include attribution, measurement and the enhancement of impact. As the need for more accountability has driven much of the work on impact assessment in recent years, attribution has been, and is still is, a challenging question to which answers remain to be found. It seems that it is preferable to begin from the "demand- side" in impact assessment. This entails using major policy events as the starting point and working retrospectively to establish the separate influences of the many research suppliers and other factors on policy responses. When the interest is on the impact of particular institutions in a "supply-side" approach, whole bodies of work on topics rather than individual projects of limited duration would appear to be preferred. As far as possible, joint impacts of various players should be measured rather than trying to separate the contributions of individual institutions. There is a need for more research on sampling and elicitation techniques to ensure objectivity and devise best practices. In this quest, it seems that exploring the elements of surprise in research information that policy makers were exposed to offers considerable promise. This is especially so with Bayesian approaches. The most appropriate approaches to impact assessment should invo1ve a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Retrospective narratives are an essential component of the former and, indeed, provide the basis for quantitative estimates and the related issue of attribution. In order to be effective, impact evaluation must be institutionalized and not simply an exercise in accountability. Staff and management should have responsibility for recording outputs, outcomes and policy responses from their research. Independent evaluators can verify these and endeavor to translate them into meaningful measures of their impact on economic welfare. Researchers have a responsibility to ensure that their research is disseminated to policy makers using appropriate communications media. A degree of advocacy is also appropriate. However this should not be taken to lengths that might compromise the independence and credibility of the researcher. With the increased availability of IT and the growing role of participatory democracy and good governance in developing countries, there is increased scope for credible policy research to be accessed by disparate groups and thereby better inform the policy process. A remaining difficulty is the attribution of economic value when economic policy research reinforces current policy settings. Economic policy research that illuminates the distributional consequences of current and/ or prospective policies seems to have the most influence on policy makers. Estimates of deadweight economic losses do not seem to be nearly as influential. In order to further refine approaches and methodologies, we need to continue to undertake more case studies and apply the lessons learnt to enhance future impact and help to define "best practices."
546 ## - LANGUAGE NOTE
Language note English
591 ## - CATALOGING NOTES
Affiliation 0310|R01CIMPU|AGRIS 0301|AL-Economics Program
595 ## - COLLECTION
Collection CIMMYT Publications Collection
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Agricultural economics
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Economic policies
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Economic systems
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Experimentation
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Food policies
9 (RLIN) 1115
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Planning
650 10 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Project design
650 17 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Quality
Miscellaneous information AGROVOC
Source of heading or term
9 (RLIN) 1231
653 0# - INDEX TERM--UNCONTROLLED
Uncontrolled term CIMMYT
650 17 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name as entry element Agricultural research
Miscellaneous information AGROVOC
Source of heading or term
9 (RLIN) 1006
700 1# - ADDED ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
9 (RLIN) 960
Personal name Watson, D.J.
Miscellaneous information Research & Partnership Program
Field link and sequence number INT3479
Relator term ed.
942 ## - ADDED ENTRY ELEMENTS (KOHA)
Koha item type Conference proceedings
Holdings
Date last seen Total Checkouts Full call number Barcode Copy number Price effective from Koha item type Lost status Damaged status Not for loan Collection code Withdrawn status Home library Current library Date acquired
02/10/2015   338.91 WAT M632147 1 02/10/2015 Conference proceedings Not Lost     CIMMYT Publications Collection   CIMMYT Knowledge Center: John Woolston Library CIMMYT Knowledge Center: John Woolston Library 02/10/2015

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