Ravallion, Martin2014-03-042014-03-042001-01World Bank Economic Reviewhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/17218This article provides an introduction to the concepts and methods of impact evaluation. The author provides an intuitive explanation in the context of a concrete application. The article takes the form of a short story about a fictional character's on-the-job training in evaluation. Ms. Speedy analyst is an economist in the Ministry of Finance in the fictional country of Labas. In the process of figuring out how to evaluate a human resource program targeted to the poor, Ms. Analyst learns the strengths and weaknesses of the main methods of ex post impact evaluation.en-USCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOAGE GROUPSALGEBRAANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMBUDGETARY ALLOCATIONSCALCULATIONCALLCASH PAYMENTCHILD LABORCOUNTERFACTUALDEDUCTIONDEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITIONEARNINGSECONOMETRICSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPOWERMENTENROLLMENTENROLLMENT RATEENROLLMENT RATESEQUATIONSEXCLUSIONEXPENDITURESEXPERIMENTAL DATAFAMILIESFAMILY BUSINESSGIRLSHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLDSHYPOTHESESIMPACT EVALUATIONIMPACT OF INTERVENTIONSINCOMEINCOME GROUPSINSTRUMENTAL VARIABLESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERVENTIONINTERVENTIONSLABOR MARKETLEARNINGLETLIVING STANDARDSLOW-INCOME FAMILIESMAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD ESTIMATIONMEASUREMENT ERRORSMISSING DATANONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSNONLINEAR MODELSOUTCOME INDICATORSPAPERSPOVERTY INDICATORSPROBABILITIESPROBABILITYPROGRAM EVALUATIONPROJECT MONITORINGPROPENSITY SCORE MATCHING METHODPUBLIC FINANCERANDOM ERRORSRANDOMIZATIONREADINGREASONINGRECEIPTSREPRESENTATIVE SAMPLESSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL-AGE CHILDRENSCHOOLINGSCHOOLSSELECTION BIASSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOCIAL POLICIESSTANDARD ERRORSSTATISTICIANSTARGETINGTEACHERSTRAINING PROGRAMSJournal ArticleWorld Bank10.1596/17218