IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v41y2013icp196-216.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Admissible Evidence in the Court of Development Evaluation? The Impact of CARE’s SHOUHARDO Project on Child Stunting in Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Smith, Lisa C.
  • Khan, Faheem
  • Frankenberger, Timothy R.
  • Wadud, A.K.M. Abdul

Abstract

Experimental impact evaluation methods have recently emerged as a dominant force within the development effectiveness movement. Although these methods have improved understanding of what works, their “gold standard” status threatens to exclude a large body of alternative evidence. This paper evaluates the impact of CARE’s SHOUHARDO project in Bangladesh, which employed a rights-based, livelihoods approach. Using a mixed-methods protocol, we find plausible evidence that the project led to an extraordinarily large reduction in child malnutrition. While offering valuable policy lessons, we illustrate how rigorous evaluation can be undertaken even without the randomization and control groups required by the experimental methods.

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, Lisa C. & Khan, Faheem & Frankenberger, Timothy R. & Wadud, A.K.M. Abdul, 2013. "Admissible Evidence in the Court of Development Evaluation? The Impact of CARE’s SHOUHARDO Project on Child Stunting in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 196-216.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:196-216
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.06.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X12001866
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.06.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. von Grebmer, Klaus & Ruel, Marie T. & Menon, Purnima & Nestorova, Bella & Olofinbiyi, Tolulope & Fritschel, Heidi & Yohannes, Yisehac & von Oppeln, Constanze & Towey, Olive & Golden, Kate & Thompson, , 2010. "2010 Global Hunger Index: The challenge of hunger: The challenge of hunger: Focus on the crisis of child undernutrition," Issue briefs 65, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Angus Deaton, 2010. "Instruments, Randomization, and Learning about Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 424-455, June.
    3. Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee & Alice H. Amsden & Robert H. Bates & Jagdish Bhagwati & Angus Deaton & Nicholas Stern, 2007. "Making Aid Work," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262026155, April.
    4. Sanjeev Khagram & Craig Thomas & Catrina Lucero & Subarna Mathes, 2009. "Evidence for development effectiveness," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 247-270.
    5. World Bank, 2006. "Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development : A Strategy for Large Scale Action," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7409.
    6. Shahidur R. Khandker & Gayatri B. Koolwal & Hussain A. Samad, . "Handbook on Impact Evaluation : Quantitative Methods and Practices," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 2693, September.
    7. Elbers, Chris & Gunning, Jan Willem & de Hoop, Kobus, 2009. "Assessing Sector-wide Programs with Statistical Impact Evaluation: A Methodological Proposal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 513-520, February.
    8. Robert Chambers, 2009. "So that the poor count more: using participatory methods for impact evaluation," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 243-246.
    9. Christopher B. Barrett & Michael R. Carter, 2010. "The Power and Pitfalls of Experiments in Development Economics: Some Non-random Reflections," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(4), pages 515-548.
    10. Rajeev H. Dehejia & Sadek Wahba, 2002. "Propensity Score-Matching Methods For Nonexperimental Causal Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 151-161, February.
    11. Sudhanshu Handa & John A. Maluccio, 2010. "Matching the Gold Standard: Comparing Experimental and Nonexperimental Evaluation Techniques for a Geographically Targeted Program," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3), pages 415-447, April.
    12. Peter Corning, 2007. "Synergy Goes to War: A Bioeconomic Theory of Collective Violence," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 109-144, August.
    13. Smith, Lisa C. & Haddad, Lawrence James, 2000. "Explaining child malnutrition in developing countries: a cross-country analysis," Research reports 111, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    14. Ravallion Martin, 2009. "Should the Randomistas Rule?," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-5, February.
    15. Martin Ravallion, 2009. "Evaluation in the Practice of Development," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 29-53, March.
    16. Kakwani, Nanak & Wagstaff, Adam & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 1997. "Socioeconomic inequalities in health: Measurement, computation, and statistical inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 87-103, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Corina Shika Kwami & Samuel Godfrey & Hippolyte Gavilan & Monica Lakhanpaul & Priti Parikh, 2019. "Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: Linkages with Stunting in Rural Ethiopia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Priniti Panday & Deanna Rackie & Maria Cornachione Kula, 2020. "The status of women and its influence on children’s well‐being: Do geography, religion and income matter? A comparative study," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(6), pages 766-782, November.
    3. Sudha Narayanan & Marzia Fontana & Erin Lentz & Bharati Kulkarni, 2019. "Rural women's empowerment in nutrition: a proposal for diagnostics linking food, health and institutions," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-003, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    4. Brendan Fisher & Robin Naidoo, 2016. "The Geography of Gender Inequality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-10, March.
    5. Mariapia Mendola & Mengesha Yayo Negasi, 2019. "Nutritional and Schooling Impact of a Cash Transfer Program in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Experience," Development Working Papers 451, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    6. Smith, Lisa C. & Frankenberger, Timothy R., 2018. "Does Resilience Capacity Reduce the Negative Impact of Shocks on Household Food Security? Evidence from the 2014 Floods in Northern Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 358-376.
    7. Lara Cockx & Nathalie Francken, 2016. "Evolution and Impact of EU Aid for Food and Nutrition Security: A Review," FOODSECURE Working papers 47, LEI Wageningen UR.
    8. Suzani Mohamad Samuri & Bahbibi Rahmatullah & Norazilawati Abdullah & Aslina Ahmad & Zainiah Mohamed Isa & Hamsa Hammed, 2018. "Early Childhood Research Landscape on Children’s Profile: Coherent Taxonomy, Motivation, Open Challenges, Recommendations and, Pathways for Future Research," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(5), pages 1603-1630, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martin Ravallion, 2012. "Fighting Poverty One Experiment at a Time: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty : Review Essay," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 103-114, March.
    2. Tilman Brück & Neil T. N. Ferguson, 2020. "Money can’t buy love but can it buy peace? Evidence from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE II)," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 37(5), pages 536-558, September.
    3. Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Higgins, Daniel & Arslan, Aslihan, 2020. "Irrigation infrastructure and farm productivity in the Philippines: A stochastic Meta-Frontier analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    4. Faraz Usmani & Marc Jeuland & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak, 2018. "NGOs and the effectiveness of interventions," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-59, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Florent Bédécarrats & Isabelle Guérin & François Roubaud, 2019. "All that Glitters is not Gold. The Political Economy of Randomized Evaluations in Development," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 50(3), pages 735-762, May.
    6. Ralitza Dimova, 2019. "A Debate that Fatigues…: To Randomise or Not to Randomise; What’s the Real Question?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 31(2), pages 163-168, April.
    7. Arraiz, Irani & Calero, Carla & Jon, Songqing & Peralta, Alexandra, 2015. "Planting the seeds: The impact of training on mando producers in Haiti," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212622, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Bamberger, Michael & Tarsilla, Michele & Hesse-Biber, Sharlene, 2016. "Why so many “rigorous” evaluations fail to identify unintended consequences of development programs: How mixed methods can contribute," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 155-162.
    9. Gentilini, Ugo & Omamo, Steven Were, 2011. "Social protection 2.0: Exploring issues, evidence and debates in a globalizing world," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 329-340, June.
    10. Chris Elbers & Jan Willem Gunning, 2014. "Evaluation of Development Programs: Randomized Controlled Trials or Regressions?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(3), pages 432-445.
    11. Henrik Hansen & Ninja Ritter Klejnstrup & Ole Winckler Andersen, 2011. "A Comparison of Model-based and Design-based Impact Evaluations of Interventions in Developing Countries," IFRO Working Paper 2011/16, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    12. Arraiz, Irani & Calero, Carla & Jon, Songqing & Peralta, Alexandra, 2015. "Planting the seeds: The impact of training on mando producers in Haiti," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212622, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Donovan, Kevin P., 2018. "The rise of the randomistas: on the experimental turn in international aid," SocArXiv xygzb, Center for Open Science.
    14. Chris Elbers & Jan Willem Gunning, 2012. "Evaluation of Development Programs: Using Regressions to assess the Impact of Complex Interventions," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 12-081/2, Tinbergen Institute.
    15. Florent BEDECARRATS & Isabelle GUERIN & François ROUBAUD, 2017. "L'étalon-or des évaluations randomisées : économie politique des expérimentations aléatoires dans le domaine du développement," Working Paper 753120cd-506f-4c5f-80ed-7, Agence française de développement.
    16. Jacobus de Hoop & Furio C. Rosati, 2014. "Cash Transfers and Child Labor," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 202-234.
    17. Cadot, Olivier & Fernandes, Ana M. & Gourdon, Julien & Mattoo, Aaditya, 2015. "Are the benefits of export support durable? Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 310-324.
    18. Martin, Will, 2021. "Tools for measuring the full impacts of agricultural interventions," IFPRI-MCC technical papers 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Kabeer, Naila, 2020. "‘Misbehaving’ RCTs: The confounding problem of human agency," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    20. Mariapia Mendola & Mengesha Yayo Negasi, 2019. "Nutritional and Schooling Impact of a Cash Transfer Program in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Experience," Development Working Papers 451, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:41:y:2013:i:c:p:196-216. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.