Evaluating Behavior Change in International Development Operations

Abstract

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has established three Strategic Engagement Areas (SEAs) around which it has organized its work program. One of those SEAs is Sustained Service Delivery for the Poor. This paper on behavior change constitutes one of two methodology papers (the other being on service delivery) that establish a new lens through which to understand the World Bank’s portfolio in IEG evaluations. The paper outlines the economic and psychosocial theories that have led to an array of frameworks for helping policy makers design behaviorally conscious interventions. After establishing criteria for an evaluative behavior change framework suitable for World Bank projects and finding that none of the existing frameworks fits that set of criteria, this paper proposes a new framework, CrI2SP, which categorizes elements of World Bank projects, and introduces an evaluative framework for capturing the degree to which behavioral considerations have been integrated into World Bank projects.