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Measuring Externalities in Program Evaluation

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  • Wendy Janssens

    (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

Impact evaluations of development programmes usually focus on a comparison of participants with a control group. However, if the programme generates externalities for non-participants such an approach will capture only part of the programme’s impact. Based on a unique large-scale quantitative survey we estimate the direct as well as the spillover effects of a women’s empowerment programme in rural India on child immunization and school enrolment. The survey covers both participants and non-participants living in programme villages, as well as respondents in control villages where the programme is not yet active. We account for participation selection bias using instrumental variables. The control villages allow us to test the exclusion restriction and provide us with an effective control group to analyze programme impact. We find both direct effects and significant spillovers on non-participants. The impact of interventions might be substantially underestimated if such external effects were not taken into account.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendy Janssens, 2005. "Measuring Externalities in Program Evaluation," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 05-017/2, Tinbergen Institute, revised 30 Mar 2006.
    • Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20050017
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Milla Nyyssölä & Jukka Pirttilä & Susanna Sandström, 2012. "Helping Poor Farmers to Help Themselves: Evidence from a Group-Based Aid Project in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Olivia D’Aoust & Olivier Sterck & Philip Verwimp, 2013. "Buying Peace: The Mirage of Demobilizing Rebels," HiCN Working Papers 145, Households in Conflict Network.
    3. Balineau, Gaëlle, 2013. "Disentangling the Effects of Fair Trade on the Quality of Malian Cotton," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 241-255.
    4. Ruerd Ruben, 2012. "Dimensionner l'aide au développement : ce que nous enseigne l'évaluation. Dimensioning Development Aid: Some Lessons from Evaluation," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 20(4), pages 95-123.
    5. Nyyssölä, Milla & Pirttilä, Jukka & Sandström, Susanna, 2012. "Helping Poor Farmers to Help Themselves: Evidence from a Group-Based Aid Project in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 088, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Dekker, Marlieen, 2008. "Estimating Wealth effects without expenditure Data: Evidence From rural Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 15(1), pages 1-85, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    program evaluation; externalities; education; immunization; India; women's empowerment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models

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