Publication:
External Validity and Policy Adaptation: From Impact Evaluation to Policy Design

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dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Martin J.
dc.date.accessioned2022-01-11T18:06:11Z
dc.date.available2022-01-11T18:06:11Z
dc.date.issued2020-07
dc.description.abstractWith the growing number of impact evaluations worldwide, the question of how to apply this evidence in policy making processes has arguably become the main challenge for evidence-based policy making. How can policy makers predict whether a policy will have the same impact in their context as it did elsewhere, and how should this influence the policy’s design and implementation? This paper suggests that failures of external validity (both in transporting and scaling up policy) can be understood as arising from an interaction between a policy’s theory of change and a dimension of the context in which it is being implemented. The paper surveys existing approaches to analyzing external validity, and suggests that there has been more focus on the generalizability of impact evaluation results than on the applicability of evidence to specific contexts. To help fill this gap, the study develops a method of “mechanism mapping” that maps a policy’s theory of change against salient contextual assumptions to identify external validity problems and suggest appropriate policy adaptations. In deciding whether and how to adapt a policy, there is a fundamental informational trade-off between the strength of evidence on the policy from other contexts and the policy maker’s information about the local context.en
dc.identifier.citationWorld Bank Research Observer
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/36809
dc.identifier.issn1564-6971
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/36809
dc.publisherPublished by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseriesWorld Bank Research Observer
dc.rightsCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo
dc.subjectIMPACT EVALUATION
dc.subjectEXTERNAL VALIDITY
dc.subjectPOLICY DESIGN
dc.subjectEVIDENCE-BASED POLICY
dc.subjectMONITORING AND EVALUATION
dc.subjectPROJECT ANALYSIS
dc.titleExternal Validity and Policy Adaptationen
dc.title.subtitleFrom Impact Evaluation to Policy Designen
dc.typeJournal Articleen
dc.typeArticle de journalfr
dc.typeArtículo de revistaes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.date.disclosure2022-01-11
okr.date.doiregistration2025-05-06T11:09:17.157089Z
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Journal Article
okr.identifier.doi10.1093/wbro/lky010
okr.journal.nbpages158-91
okr.language.supporteden
okr.peerreviewAcademic Peer Review
okr.region.administrativeAfrica
okr.region.administrativeAfrica Eastern and Southern (AFE)
okr.region.countryZimbabwe
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Health Policy and Management
okr.topicHealth, Nutrition and Population::Health Project Design and Implementation
okr.volume35(2)
relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication806e25f4-7594-4c0d-9535-2b2b380da687
relation.isJournalIssueOfPublication.latestForDiscovery806e25f4-7594-4c0d-9535-2b2b380da687
relation.isJournalOfPublication9e5fbe82-492f-4142-8378-17d50245d9de
relation.isJournalVolumeOfPublication9114dde9-ed7f-4df4-9de1-174aae48ff20
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