Handbook on the Theory and Practice of Program Evaluation

There has been a dramatic increase in expenditures on public goods over the past thirty years, particularly in the area of research and development. As governments explore the many opportunities for growth in this area, they - and the general public - are becoming increasingly concerned with the [...]
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There has been a dramatic increase in expenditures on public goods over the past thirty years, particularly in the area of research and development. As governments explore the many opportunities for growth in this area, they - and the general public - are becoming increasingly concerned with the transparency, accountability and performance of public programs. This pioneering Handbook offers a collection of critical essays on the theory and practice of program evaluation, written by some of the most well-known experts in the field. As this volume demonstrates, a wide variety of methodologies exist to evaluate particularly the objectives and outcomes of research and development programs. These include surveys, statistical and econometric estimations, patent analyses, bibliometrics, scientometrics, network analyses, case studies, and historical tracings. Contributors divide these and other methods and applications into four categories - economic, non-economic, hybrid and data-driven - in order to discuss the many factors that affect the utility of each technique and how that impacts the technological, economic and societal forecasts of the programs in question.Scholars, practitioners and students with an interest in economics and innovation will all find this Handbook an invaluable resource.