Towards an Economics of Evaluation

Abstract

This article probes the contrasting traditions of economics and evaluation and shows that intensified collaboration would benefit both professions. While evaluators have long been examining the impact of economic advice on public policy, economists have neglected evaluation both as a platform for testing economic policy hypotheses and as a topic for economic research in its own right. To encourage convergence between economics and evaluation, this article sketches the elements of an institutional economics of evaluation, considers the ongoing debate about the proper function of evaluation in society and presents cost benefit concepts and a supply demand framework to scrutinize the value and prospects of evaluation activities. Finally, it identifies performance measurement as a priority area for cooperation between evaluators and economists.