Download or read book Evaluating Anti-poverty Programs written by Martin Ravallion and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 77 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The author critically reviews the methods available for the ex-post counterfactual analysis of programs that are assigned exclusively to individuals, households, or locations. The discussion covers both experimental and non-experimental methods (including propensity-score matching, discontinuity designs, double and triple differences, and instrumental variables). Two main lessons emerge. First, despite the claims of advocates, no single method dominates; rigorous, policy-relevant evaluations should be open-minded about methodology. Second, future efforts to draw more useful lessons from evaluations will call for more policy-relevant measures and deeper explanations of measured impacts than are possible from the classic ("black box") assessment of mean impact. " -- Cover verso.