Behind the Scenes: Managing and Conducting Large Scale Impact Evaluations in Colombia

This paper from the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) uses four impact evaluation case studies from Columbia to benchmark each evaluation against 11 standards of quality.

From this exercise “five key lessons for conducting high quality and influential impact evaluations [are derived]: (1) investing in the preparation of good terms of reference and identification of evaluation questions; (2) choosing the best methodological approach to address the evaluation questions; (3) adopting mechanisms to ensure evaluation quality; (4) laying out the incentives for involved parties in order to foster evaluation buy-in; and (5) carrying out a plan for quality dissemination."

Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. An ideal impact evaluation process
• A. General considerations
• B. Before starting the IE
• C. During implementation of the IE
• D. After implementing the IE
• 3. Facing the real world: learning from the experience of selected impact evaluations in Colombia
• A. The impact evaluation of the Familias en Acción (FeA) conditional cash transfer program
• B. The impact evaluation of the Jóvenes en Acción (JeA) youth labor training program
• C. The impact evaluation of the Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar (HCB) nursery program
• D. The evaluation of the Sistema General de Participaciones (SGP) fiscal transfers’ policy
• 4. Conclusions and key lessons