Economic policy decisions, from fertiliser subsidies and cash transfer programmes to tariff changes and infrastructure investments, commit public resources for years. Treasuries, parliaments and development partners increasingly ask for evidence that such interventions achieve their intended outcomes at reasonable cost, and for honest accounts when they do not. Meeting that demand requires analysts who can bring together monitoring systems, economic appraisal and rigorous impact evaluation.

The Monitoring and Evaluation of Applied Economics & Policy Analysis Training Course gives participants a practical toolkit for that work. It starts with how policies are expected to change behaviour and markets, expressed as a theory of change and a results framework with measurable indicators. It then covers economic appraisal before a policy is adopted, weighing costs against benefits or against a single outcome measure, and evaluation after implementation, using experimental and quasi-experimental designs. Participants learn to judge data quality, interpret effect sizes, consider who gains and who loses, and avoid common errors such as ignoring counterfactuals or double counting benefits.

Each day mixes concepts with computer-based exercises. Participants work with real-format datasets in Stata, R or Excel, critique published evaluations and complete an evaluation design and policy brief for a programme relevant to their institution.

Over the five days, participants will learn to:

• Construct a theory of change and results framework for an economic policy or programme.
• Select economic outcome indicators and assess the quality of administrative and survey data.
• Conduct cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, including discounting and sensitivity tests.
• Choose an impact evaluation design suited to the policy, data and timeline available.
• Estimate programme effects using difference-in-differences, matching and regression discontinuity in statistical software.
• Analyse distributional effects to show who benefits and who bears the cost of a policy.
• Communicate findings through concise policy briefs and evaluation reports.

This programme is relevant to analysts and evaluators working on public policy, including:

• Economists and policy analysts in ministries of finance, planning and trade
• Monitoring and evaluation officers in government delivery units
• Researchers in central banks, revenue authorities and statistics offices
• Parliamentary budget office and committee research staff
• Economists and M&E specialists in development partner and UN agencies
• Researchers in think tanks and university policy institutes
• Programme managers responsible for subsidy, social protection or investment programmes
• Consultants who carry out policy and programme evaluations

The practical results you take home are:

• A results framework and indicator plan for a live policy or programme.
• A working cost-benefit spreadsheet with discount rates and sensitivity tables.
• Annotated Stata or R scripts for difference-in-differences and matching estimates.
• An evaluation design note setting out questions, methods, data and limitations.
• A two-page policy brief drafted to a decision-maker's standard.

Delivery balances economic concepts with hands-on analysis. Participants work through:

• Computer labs in Excel, Stata or R with prepared datasets
• Critiques of published policy evaluations and appraisal reports
• Group design exercises for real government programmes
• Writing clinics for policy briefs, with facilitator feedback
• Discussion of evaluation politics and evidence use in participants' institutions

Each participant who attends the full programme and completes the computer labs and evaluation design exercise is awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.