This five-day program on evaluating social programs will provide a thorough understanding of randomized evaluations and pragmatic step-by-step training for conducting one's own evaluation. While the course focuses on randomized evaluations, many of the topics, such as measuring outcomes and dealing with threats to the validity of an evaluation, are relevant for other methodologies. About the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab J-PAL's goal is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is based on scientific evidence. Every day, evidence generated by J-PAL researchers is influencing policy and improving lives, sometimes very directly - for example through the scale-up of effective programs- but also in less direct but equally important ways. To date, our evidence has helped improve the lives of at least 30 million people around the world through the scale-up of highly effective policies and programs. By 2013, J-PAL aims to have positively impacted 100 million lives.

Describes how economic theory is linked to economic evaluation techniques like cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis and to introduce students to many concepts that are specific to economic evaluation. Introduces students to the many varieties of economic evaluation to establish a common terminology. Discusses cost-benefit with a demonstration of how this type of evaluation is most clearly linked to economic theory. Explores other theories and concepts, including cost measurement, benefit valuation, and incremental decision-making. Finally, explores recommendations on performing economic evaluations that are made in the United States with a focus on how these are related to underlying economic theory and other concepts.

The primary objective of this content is to prepare students to read and interpret cost-effectiveness studies. The students will first be introduced to basic economic concepts that are needed in order to understand the recommendations from the United States Panel on Cost Effectiveness in Health and Medicine. One example is the distinction between opportunity costs and budgetary costs. The recommendations will then be reviewed, particularly as they apply to what students should expect to read in cost-effectiveness research reports. Next, the relationship between cost-effectiveness results and other elements of the health care policy decision-making process will be discussed. More information will be provided on several aspects of how to conduct cost-effectiveness analyses. A critical discussion of several current articles demonstrating cost-effectiveness analyses will be an integral part of this course. When a student has completed this course, he or she will be able to read, comprehend, and perform a basic critique of cost-effectiveness papers and take part in discussions of planned cost-effectiveness research.