An effective fight against poverty requires a rigorous evaluation of development and poverty reduction policies in order to provide policy-makers with systematic analyses of policy alternatives. There is a need to learn from the success and failure of past programs in order to ensure that future policies will be effective. To this end, the IERPE organized a Summer School in Program Evaluation from June 25th to July 8th, 2005 in Cotonou, Benin. The training follows the 2004 summer school which centered on the same theme.
Objectives and Contents
The summer school's principal aim is to introduce policy-makers, researchers and students to quantitative and qualitative methods for advanced research in political economy and techniques of causal inference and identification of the impact of public policies.
During the first week, the participants will follow theoretical courses on causal inference in randomized and non-randomized experimentation as well as methods for the correction of non-conformity bias. The second week was dedicated to the application of the first week's theoretical development in the domains of education, public health, political economy, and the question of risk-sharing. In order to better understand the theoretical components of the course, students were introduced to statistical software programs such as R+ and STATA.
At the end of these two weeks, students who successfully completed the intense coursework will receive a diploma acknowledging this accomplishment.
Participation
IREEP's summer course was able to bring together 52 students of both Beninese and Togolese nationalities coming from very diverse academic backgrounds: development economics, sociology, statistics, and management. The training sessions were also able to appeal to a number of government officials who work in the field of education, rural development, the environment and development planning as well as members of the Jeune Chambre Internationale du Benin.
The summer school also attracted government bureaucrats who work in areas such as education, public health, rural development and urban planning as well as leaders for various political parties and other organizations.
The Teaching Staff and the Organization Committee
The teaching staff included Professor Leonard Wantchekon of New York University, Professor Yves Atchadé of the University of Ottawa, and Doctor Harounan Kazianga of Columbia University in New York. The organization committee at the local level included Mr. Grégoire Kpékpédé, Mr. Alexandre Biaou of INSAE and Miss. Armande Gninafon from the Ministry of Planning.