Policy Evaluation

Students gain a deeper understanding of the role policy evaluation plays as a strategy to improve modern public governance, control and decision making. The aim of the course is to enable students to critically assess policy evaluations that apply advanced methods. Furthermore, students get an overview on whether particular theoretical expectations regarding social policy effects are fulfilled according to the empirical literature. Finally, students apply selected microeconometric evaluation methods to real data and are thus enabled to evaluate public policy themselves.

This course aims at students that would like to work in governmental and non-governmental positions in which they need to form an opinion about and decide on the implementation and modification of specific social policy instruments on the grounds of evaluation reports provided by experts. Furthermore, the course provides an academic base for students that want to pursue a scientific career by providing them with the skills to conduct policy evaluations for academic audiences and decision-makers. 

In part I, the main concepts of policy evaluation are discussed. What is policy evaluation, in which situations is it used and what are the basic principles and purposes of policy evaluation? Furthermore, the different use of the terms output, outcome and effect/impact is discussed, leading towards the definition of the fundamental evaluation problem.  

In part II, research design and methodology of policy evaluations are introduced. We discuss what kind of indicators are used to measure the effects of social policy. Also, the most commonly used methods, i.e DiD, matching, regression discontinuity design and instrumental variable estimation are introduced. 

In part III, selected policy fields, with a special emphasis on labour market policy, are analysed. We derive testable hypotheses regarding the impact of selected policies from theory and compare our hypotheses to results from empirical policy evaluation studies. The articles that are discussed each use a different estimation strategy. In this part, the students also replicate the results of selected studies by applying the methods to the original data, using the statistical software package STATA. Additional policy fields will be covered depending on the interests of students that participate in the course. 

Explain the main concepts, advantages and shortcomings of policy evaluation as a strategy to improve policy making and implementation

Explain the theoretical mechanisms between selected social policy fields and its effects

Summarize empirical findings on the impact of a social policy reform

Identify and explain the research questions, hypotheses, design, methods and results of policy evaluation studies

Critically assess advantages and shortcomings of specific microeconometric evaluation methods

Apply policy evaluation methods to datasets provided

Add-ons  6

Preparation for lectures114 

In-class presentation (exam part 1)1

Preparation for in-class presentation (exam part 1)12

Preparation for exam part 2103

Exam part 24

Total270

The student is automatically registered for the first examination attempt when the student is registered for a course or course element with which one or more examinations are associated. Withdrawal of registration is not possible, and students who fail to participate in an examination have used one examination attempt, unless the University has made an exemption due to special circumstances. 

If a student does not meet the established university prerequisites for taking the exam, he or she has used one examination attempt, unless the University has made an exemption due to special circumstances.