One small step for Norway, one giant leap for evidence-informed decision-making in Norwegian aid

If economists are the ‘dismal scientists’ always harping on about limited resources, evaluators are often considered the ‘pessimist scientists’ who only see the half-empty glass, rather than the half-full one. The end of the year is, however, a perfect time to break with that tradition. It is a time to reflect and appreciate progress, promising initiatives, and flickers of hope. Evidence suggests that positive reinforcement can be effective in ensuring that positive developments or behaviors are maintained.

Three ways theories of change are helping evaluate a complex initiative to improve waste pickers’ lives

Urban waste pickers face several intertwined challenges such as low incomes, limited education, poor health, social marginalization, and domestic violence. In Bengaluru, India, 3ie is currently evaluating an initiative called Saamuhika Shakti, which adopts an innovative ‘Collective Impact’ approach to improving the lives of informal waste pickers. The initiative, just like the problems it looks to address, is complex.

Where next in the quest for better evidence — after this year's picks for the Nobel Prize in Economics

The buzz around this year’s Nobel Prize picks in economics continues to stimulate discussion, not least on “where next in the quest for better evidence?” The groundbreaking research by Laureates David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens has substantially improved our ability to answer key causal questions with great benefits to society. But much more needs to be done to get from conceptual advances to improved practice in evidence-informed decision-making by policymakers and program designers around the globe.

15 years after "Will we ever learn?": Well, did we?

Fifteen years ago, the Evaluation Gap Working Group published a report noting the absence of solid evidence on the effectiveness of development programming. This report, and the intellectual community behind it, drove a wave of work on impact evaluations in the development sector. So, did we learn?

Evidence Dialogue: For development institutions, learning requires more than collecting data

The world's development institutions collect lots of data – but do they learn from it? Perhaps not as much as they should. Between the challenges of quick timelines, rigid systems, and disconnects between implementers and evaluators, development agencies do not always walk the talk of evidence-informed decision-making, 3ie's expert panel agreed.

Evidence impact: Seven ways that development decision makers use evidence

Given the variety of ways in which evidence is taken up and used, we found that ‘you will know evidence uptake and use when you see it’ is not a good enough standard. We are in the business of evidence, not anecdotes. So, we developed a detailed typology of the ways decision-makers take up and use research evidence, particularly findings and lessons from impact evaluations.

Mapping the evidence on the effects of rule of law interventions on justice outcomes

The systematic use of evidence can help inform decisions on what research to conduct, what interventions to implement and how to improve the effectiveness of programs.

Scaling up development interventions requires planning from the beginning, 3ie's expert panel says

Even if development projects are highly effective at a small scale, many are abandoned before they can have the type of large-scale impacts needed to alleviate poverty. To learn more about how projects can grow past the pilot phase, nearly 300 people joined 3ie’s expert panel on scaling up interventions, the last of its Virtual Evidence Weeks events.

Cost analyses should be required by donors and get more respect from researchers, 3ie’s expert panel says

There is plenty of interest from policymakers in having cost analyses accompany impact evaluations, as we learned in last week’s Virtual Evidence Weeks panel. Our expert panelists agreed that overcoming these barriers will require pressure from funding organizations.

Addressing the need for timely and reliable evidence in the time of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic brings the importance of high-quality, timely and relevant evidence to the fore. Governments all over the world justify radical policies to control and manage the pandemic with reference to evidence.