Trinity IMpact Evaluation Unit (TIME)
Strong evidence, better investments, real impact
Email: [email protected]
TIME
Strong evidence, better investments, real impact
TIME will bring together researchers in economics working on micro-economic
impact evaluations, development practitioners, and policy makers in a collective
effort to estimate and understand the impact of development aid and
investments.
TIME will contribute to the global debate on the economic development process
and the underlying mechanisms at work.
Our vision is to provide strong evidence of what works, so that better
investments that have real impact on the development process can be made.
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Our Mission
It’s TIME for rigorous impact evaluation
– In order to learn which types of development programmes are most effective,
we need to be able to accurately measure impact.
– We need to go beyond correlations to understand how programmes truly affect
outcomes.
– By employing rigorous statistical techniques, TIME will strive to identify the
causal effect of interventions, thereby providing credible evidence on what
really works.
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Methodological Approach
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Our Mission
It’s TIME for evidence-based programmes
– Resources are scarce and it’s important that
development programmes are as effective as
possible.
– Aid and investments should be targeted towards
areas where they can have the greatest impact.
– We need to learn from our current actions in
order to improve future programmes.
– We need to know not just whether or not
programmes work, but why and how they work.
– By collaborating with development organisations
from the beginning of the design of the project,
TIME can help to uncover the mechanisms that
are at work in order to inform the design of
better programmes in the future.
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Our Mission
It’s TIME for academia and practitioners to come together
– Huge potential exists for development academics
and practitioners to work together and learn
from each other.
– Academic methodologies can help to inform the
design of development programmes and be used
to rigorously test what works.
– Practical field experience can aid the
interpretation of academic results, increasing
real-world relevance.
– TIME will actively seek to engage with
development practitioners in order to facilitate
this knowledge exchange.
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Current Projects: NOURISH
Nutrition and empowerment: evidence from women living with HIV in
Uganda
– Impact evaluation of nutrition and
empowerment related interventions for women
living with HIV in Uganda
– Experiment includes 3,000 women in 32 HIV
clinics covering all of Uganda
– Impact tested through RCT of 3 interventions:
– Nutritional information campaign
– Cookery demonstrations on how to produce
locally sourced Home-made Nutritious Food
– Inspiring Women
– Simple, cost effective and scalable interventions
– Focus on mechanisms underlying behavioural
change
– Funded by PSC between Irish Aid and Higher
Education and Research Institutions.
– Partners: Makerere University, Joint Clinical
Research Centre
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Current Projects: Powering Education
Energy access and education: evidence from rural Kenya
– Impact evaluation of distributing solar lamps to
7th grade pupils in off-grid areas
– Lamps are randomly allocated to students in
each school
– Experiment shows postive spillovers between
treatment and control
– Both treatment and control group improve
their grades in math
– Students share the lamp in prep-classess in
the afternoon
– Schools with higher share of treated students
show more improvements
– Mothers of treated students work more during
the day reducing chores which are postponed to
the evening thanks to the lamp’s availability
– Funded by ENEL Foundation and STICERD
– Partners: Powering Impact, GiveWatts, Global
Shapers-WEF.
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Current Projects: So Fresh and So Clean
Urban community engagement to keep streets trash free and improve
the sustainability of drainage infrastructures in Senegal
– Impact evaluation of community engagement
mechanisms to ensure the sustainability of
drainage infrastructure in two flood prone
regions in Dakar, Senegal.
– RCT examining the impact of alternative
approaches to community engagement to
improve and maintain the cleanliness of public
spaces and drainage infrastructure
– RCT involves 160 communities
– Impact will be considered in relation to attitudes
and behavior, loss and damage to property,
health, household income and consumption, and
education outcomes
– Project will contribute generally to our
understanding of community directed
development interventions in urban settings.
– Partners: DIME, World Bank, Dakar Municipal
Development Agency (ADM), ENDA, MSA
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Current Projects: Digitising Savings Groups
Impact evaluation of savings group e-recording technology in Western
Kenya
– Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) programme and
partners developed an Android application,
known as e-recording for savings groups to
digitise their recording of financial records
– Using an clustered RCT methodology, this study
assesses the impact of the e-recording device on
the performance of the savings group and
changes in household financial management
practices
– It also addresses key policy questions:
– Will the introduction of technology improve
savings group performance? What
mechanisms cause this change in
performance (transparency, trust, efficiency,
etc)?
– To what extent do technological or other
spillovers exist?
– Partners: FSD, CARE, CRS
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
TIME are:
Prof. Fadi Hassan
Prof. Michael King
Prof. Tara Mitchell
Prof. Gaia Narciso
Prof. Carol Newman
Contact: [email protected]