Public policy is increasingly judged by evidence. Governments and development agencies in Africa and beyond are asked to show that subsidies, social protection, trade measures and tax reforms deliver results, and analysts who can only describe data are no longer enough. Poorly identified models can mislead leaders as badly as no analysis at all.

The Advanced Applied Economics & Policy Analysis Training Course builds on a working knowledge of regression and moves participants into the methods used in research units and policy think tanks. The week starts with causal identification and the threats to credible estimates, then covers panel and time-series applications, cost-benefit appraisal, welfare and distributional analysis, and simulation approaches such as computable general equilibrium and microsimulation. Each method is linked to a policy question so that participants judge when a technique is appropriate and when it is not.

Instruction is lab-based. Participants estimate models on realistic datasets, interpret output critically, run robustness checks and translate results into plain language. They finish with a policy brief outline and a replicable analysis workflow they can apply to their own institution's questions.

On completion, participants will be able to:

• Choose an identification strategy that fits a given policy question and dataset.
• Estimate treatment effects using difference-in-differences, instrumental variables and regression discontinuity designs.
• Apply panel data and time-series models to economic and fiscal questions.
• Carry out cost-benefit analysis with sensitivity and risk testing.
• Assess the distributional and welfare effects of tax and subsidy changes.
• Interpret simulation results from general equilibrium and microsimulation models.
• Test the robustness of findings and report their limitations honestly.
• Communicate analysis in a concise policy brief for non-technical decision makers.

The programme is suited to analysts who already work with quantitative economic evidence, including:

• Economists in ministries of finance, planning and trade
• Central bank and financial regulator researchers
• Policy analysts in think tanks and research institutes
• Monitoring and evaluation specialists with econometrics experience
• Statisticians and survey analysts in national bureaux
• Development partner and NGO economists
• Consultants preparing appraisal or impact studies
• University lecturers and postgraduate researchers in economics

Participants take away:

• A decision guide linking policy questions to suitable econometric designs.
• Reusable Stata and R scripts for core estimation and robustness routines.
• A cost-benefit template with sensitivity analysis built in.
• Experience reading and challenging simulation model outputs.
• A policy brief outline written for senior readers.
• A checklist for reviewing the quality of other analysts' work.

The week is organised around software laboratories and applied questions. It includes:

• Short method briefings followed straight away by guided practice
• Stata and R workbooks with real survey and macroeconomic extracts
• Replication of results from published policy studies
• Peer review of assumptions and output interpretation
• Individual coaching on participants' own policy questions

A CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy is awarded to participants who attend the full programme and complete the laboratory assignments.