Home \ Methods \ Key Methodological References

Alston, J.M., G.W. Norton and P.G. Pardey. 1995. Science under scarcity: Principles and practice for agricultural research evaluation and priority setting. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, republished in 1998 by CAB International, Wallingford, UK.

This comprehensive work has become the primary source of reference for economic aproaches to agricultural research evaluation. The book spans an extensive array of methodological issues, from principles for research evaluation, to the technical intricacies of econometric and economic surplus approaches. Although much of the focus is on ex-ante assessment for research priority setting, there is still substantial content of relevance to the ex-post assessor.

Baker, J. 2000. Evaluating the Impact of Development Projects on Poverty: A Handbook for Practitioners. Washington, DC: World Bank.

This guide to assessing impact on poverty, although written from the perspective of general development interventions, provides valuable background information for the design of experimental and quasi-experimental social impact studies. Giving particular emphasis to counterfactual estimation, the guide details how control and treatment groups can be identified and compared so as to determine effects on diverse metrics related to human well-being.

Belli, P., J. Anderson, H. Barnum, J. Dixon, and J.P. Tan. 1996. Handbook on Economic Analysis of Investment Operations. Washington, DC, USA: Operational Core Services Network Learning and Leadership Center, World Bank. 153 p.

Although this handbook is primarily oriented towards ex-ante economic assessment of development projects, many of the key issues covered are common to all impact assessments, including epIA of agricultural research. Critical considerations that are often given little focus in agricultural research epIAs, such as fungibility, shadow prices, conversion factors, and the valuation of non-market costs/benefits are discussed in more detail here.

Impact Assessment and Evaluation Group. 1999. Impact Assessment of Agricultural Research: Context and State of the Art. Rome, Italy: CGIAR Technical Advisory Committee Secretariat. 42 p.

This review of the “State of the Art” in ex-post impact assessment provides a broad overview of epIAs to date. Focussing on the “Who, What, Where, and Why?” of epIA, this document inventories and describes the approaches and methods employed by different development and agricultural research institutions for economic, social, environmental and institutional assessments. Subsequently, recommendations are provided for strategies to better institutionalize epIA in agricultural research organizations.

Maredia, M., D. Byerlee and J.R. Anderson. 2000. Ex Post Evaluation of Economic Impacts of Agricultural Research Programs: A Tour of Good Practice. In The Future of Impact Assessment in the CGIAR: Needs, Constraints and Options. Rome, Italy: CGIAR Technical Advisory Committee Secretariat, FAO.

The “Tour of Good Practice” provides an overview of methodological considerations encountered during ex-post impact assessment of agricultural research. More strategically oriented than a “how to” manual, this document comprises a discussion and inventory of elements that should be embedded in high-quality assessments. This document also goes beyond methodological factors, and discusses the context for how epIA should be institutionalised.

Masters, W., B. Coulibaly, D. Sanogo, M. Sidibé, and A. Williams. 1996. The Economic Impact of Agricultural Research: A Practical Guide. West Lafayette, Indiana, USA: Department of Agricultural Economics Purdue University. 45 p.

This guidebook is intended to enable “any [agricultural] researcher to quantify the economic benefits (and costs)” of his or her research. Oriented towards researchers in national agricultural research systems (NARS), this manual summarises available impact assessment tools, and provides practical guidelines for their use.

Morris, M.L and P.W. Heisey. 2003. Estimating the benefits of plant breeding research: methodological issues and practical challenges. Agricultural Economics. 29(3): 241-252.

This paper provides a review of problems associated with (1) measuring adoption and diffusion of modern varieties (MVs), (2) estimating benefits attributable to adoption of MVs, and (3) assigning credit among the various plant breeding programmes that participated in developing the MVs. In light of these problems, practical recommendations are provided for good practice assessment methods.

Norton, G.W. and J. Alwang. 1999. Policy for Plenty: Measuring the Benefits of Policy-Oriented Social Science Research. Impact Assessment Discussion Paper No. 6. Washington, DC, USA: IFPRI. 32 p.

This paper provides an overview of the complexities and challenges embedded in ex-post impact assessment of policy-oriented social-science research – a research area that has been rapidly growing in the CGIAR System. In light of these challenges, viable methods are suggested and demonstrate through two case examples.

Tassey, G. 2003. Methods for Assessing the Economic Impacts of Government R&D. Gaithersburg, MD, USA: National Institute of Standards and Technology. 75 p.

Written from the perspective of non-agricultural research programmes conducted by the US Government, this document nevertheless broaches many of the same issues as encountered in ex-post impact assessment of agricultural research. This paper addresses the relative merits of different economic metrics of impact, and describes factors to be considered in selecting epIA topics, scales of analysis and assessment tools.

Software Tools

DREAM - Dynamic Research EvAluation for Management

This software application assists in the development and application of economic surplus models for the economic evaluation of research impacts under a range of policy, market, technology, and adoption conditions. The software is primarily relevant to yield-enhancing technologies to be adopted at the farm level, and allows for the specification of different types of market conditions and spillover possibilities. While it is designed primarily to evaluate options for R&D that is yet to be undertaken (ex-ante assessments), DREAM can also be applied to analyse the effect of past research (ex-post assessments).

MODEXC - Modelo de Análisis de Excedentes Económicos (Economic Surplus Analysis Model)

This software application, based on Microsoft Excel macros, allows for the quick implementation of economic surplus models for the evaluation of research impacts (both ex-ante and ex-post). This partial-equilibrium tool allows for analysis of the effects of yield-enhancing technologies adopted at the farm level on one to three interlinked markets.