COURSE NUMBER:
MBA296.2
This course is
cross-listed with the School of Public Health and Masters in Development
Practice
Note: This course has
a optional discussion section on Fridays from 11-12 pm in C135.
COURSE TITLE: Applied
Impact Evaluation
UNITS OF CREDIT: 3
INSTRUCTOR: Paul
Gertler
E-MAIL ADDRESS: gertler@haas.berkeley.edu
PREREQUISITE(S): Core
CLASS FORMAT: Weekly
lecture modules with in-class exercises and discussions. Case studies will be
discussed with a different topical focus each. Online content for learning data
analytic methods and periodic homework will be administered.
REQUIRED READINGS:
Textbook that can be downloaded from web plus readings that can be downloaded from
journals and web
BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:
Midterm, final group project, 3 short homework assignments and participation
ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S
CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
Are you interested in understanding what works and what doesn't in
and business and public policy? Do you wish you had the tools to effectively
evaluate a business strategy, new technology or public policy program? Do you
want to start a social enterprise that changes lives? How will you know if it
does and how do you prove to funders that it will work?
The
answer is simple: IMPACT EVALUATION.
Impact Evaluation is a rapidly expanding new industry at the cross
section of business, public policy, applied economics, and project management.
It's purpose is to harness modern tools and technologies to evaluate the causal
impact of public policy programs, business initiatives, healthcare
interventions, and more. Impact Evaluation is being used by investors and
donors to choose initiatives to support, by social impact funds to screen and
monitor their investments, by governments to decide how to allocate scarce
resources, by development practitioners to evaluate their own work, and by
businesses to measure the effect of their products and services. If you plan to
work in public policy, development, or at the intersection of society and
private industry, you must understand impact evaluation.
Course Description: This course will review methods for the
design and analysis of impact evaluations relevant to business and policy professionals,
especially those working in low and middle-income countries. The class will
emphasize the challenges involved in identifying the causal relationship
between a program or project and its outcomes while providing students with
experience in drafting a for an impact evaluation. The course will provide skills useful in
obtaining a future job in the field.
By the end of
the course, students will acquire the following capacities:
1.
State a set of testable hypotheses for an Impact
Evaluation
2.
Specify appropriate indicators to measure the
principal outcomes of interest
3.
Understand basic Impact Evaluation design,
construction of a valid counterfactual for causal inference in both randomized
and observational design settings.
4.
Learn techniques (software) to be able to analyze
data from an Impact Evaluation.
5.
Develop the ability to question the methods and
validity of quantitative assessments
6.
Develop a basic understanding of the elements
needed to prepare a proposal for and execute an impact evaluation.