Center of Evaluation for Global Action
Encyclopedia
The Center of Evaluation for Global Action (CEGA) is a research network at the University of California
that advances global health and development through impact evaluation
and economic analysis. The Center's researchers use randomized controlled trials and other rigorous forms of evaluation to promote sustainable social and economic development around the world.
and colleagues at UC Berkeley. The Center’s founders, including Haas School of Business
Professor Paul Gertler
, are considered pioneers in the field of impact evaluation
. They have led some of the most influential field experiments in recent years, including evaluations of school-based deworming in Kenya and of the Oportunidades
program in Mexico.
The Center is guided by the principle that economic policy and social programs should be based on scientific evidence. In support of this vision, CEGA researchers rigorously test anti-poverty strategies and disseminate their findings to governments and other decision-makers. The Center also invests in developing junior researchers in the U.S. and in developing countries.
CEGA is currently led by Faculty Director Edward Miguel
and Executive Director Temina Madon.
The Center's research program draws on the empirical work of more than 25 faculty members at the University of California. These researchers are united in their use of rigorous statistical tools to measure the impacts of social programs in low and middle income countries. The CEGA toolbox includes randomized evaluation (long-trusted in the medical field) as well as regression discontinuity
, panel analysis
, instrumental variables, and other rigorous quasi-experimental methods. When used appropriately, each of these methods can create equivalent treatment and comparison groups for use in estimating an intervention's impact.
CEGA is unique among development research centers, in that it integrates business and economic approaches with expertise from various sectors—including agriculture, public health, education, political science, and environment.
, in collaboration with Michael Kremer
, demonstrated in 2004 that school-based mass deworming
in rural Kenya
is a cost-effective way to improve school attendance. Subsequent advocacy by Kremer and Miguel led to the establishment of Deworm the World, a non-profit that works directly with governments to expand school-based deworming. The efforts of Deworm the World, together with Miguel's and Kremer’s research, have been instrumental in the creation of Kenya's national deworming program. In 2009, the program reached more than 3.6 million children at 8,200 schools across the country, making it one of the first evidence-based, national deworming programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Miguel's research on deworming has been covered by the New York Times,, as well as the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune
and Financial Times
. In May 2011, Miguel's and Kremer’s work was featured in a column by Nicholas Kristof on the importance of impact evaluation.
(J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). CEGA and J-PAL jointly manage the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative, an initiative that seeks to improve the appropriate adoption of agricultural technologies by small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
that advances global health and development through impact evaluation
Impact evaluation
Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention, such as a project, program or policy, both the intended ones, as well as ideally the unintended ones...
and economic analysis. The Center's researchers use randomized controlled trials and other rigorous forms of evaluation to promote sustainable social and economic development around the world.
History and Mission
CEGA was established in 2008 by Economics Professor Edward MiguelEdward Miguel
- External links :* *...
and colleagues at UC Berkeley. The Center’s founders, including Haas School of Business
Haas School of Business
The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley....
Professor Paul Gertler
Paul Gertler
Paul Gertler is an American economist and the Li Ka Shing Distinguished Professor of Economics in the Haas School of Business and the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley....
, are considered pioneers in the field of impact evaluation
Impact evaluation
Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular intervention, such as a project, program or policy, both the intended ones, as well as ideally the unintended ones...
. They have led some of the most influential field experiments in recent years, including evaluations of school-based deworming in Kenya and of the Oportunidades
Oportunidades
Oportunidades is a government social assistance program in Mexico founded in 2002, based on a previous program called Progresa, created in 1997. It is designed to target poverty by providing cash payments to families in exchange for regular school attendance, health clinic visits, and nutritional...
program in Mexico.
The Center is guided by the principle that economic policy and social programs should be based on scientific evidence. In support of this vision, CEGA researchers rigorously test anti-poverty strategies and disseminate their findings to governments and other decision-makers. The Center also invests in developing junior researchers in the U.S. and in developing countries.
CEGA is currently led by Faculty Director Edward Miguel
Edward Miguel
- External links :* *...
and Executive Director Temina Madon.
Activities
CEGA focuses its resources in three core areas: research, training and policy impact.The Center's research program draws on the empirical work of more than 25 faculty members at the University of California. These researchers are united in their use of rigorous statistical tools to measure the impacts of social programs in low and middle income countries. The CEGA toolbox includes randomized evaluation (long-trusted in the medical field) as well as regression discontinuity
Regression discontinuity
In statistics, econometrics, epidemiology and related disciplines, a regression discontinuity design is a design that elicits the causal effects of interventions by exploiting a given exogenous threshold determining assignment to treatment...
, panel analysis
Panel analysis
Panel analysis is statistical method, widely used in social science, epidemiology, and econometrics, which deals with two-dimensional panel data. The data are usually collected over time and over the same individuals and then a regression is run over these two dimensions...
, instrumental variables, and other rigorous quasi-experimental methods. When used appropriately, each of these methods can create equivalent treatment and comparison groups for use in estimating an intervention's impact.
CEGA is unique among development research centers, in that it integrates business and economic approaches with expertise from various sectors—including agriculture, public health, education, political science, and environment.
Policy Impact
To transform research into better policies and programs, CEGA encourages the scale-up of proven interventions. For example, CEGA researcher Edward MiguelEdward Miguel
- External links :* *...
, in collaboration with Michael Kremer
Michael Kremer
Michael Robert Kremer is a development economist and is currently the Gates Professor of Developing Societies at Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and a Presidential Faculty Fellowship, and was named a Young Global...
, demonstrated in 2004 that school-based mass deworming
Deworming
Deworming is the giving of an anthelmintic drug to an animal to rid it of intestinal parasites, such as roundworm and tapeworm...
in rural Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
is a cost-effective way to improve school attendance. Subsequent advocacy by Kremer and Miguel led to the establishment of Deworm the World, a non-profit that works directly with governments to expand school-based deworming. The efforts of Deworm the World, together with Miguel's and Kremer’s research, have been instrumental in the creation of Kenya's national deworming program. In 2009, the program reached more than 3.6 million children at 8,200 schools across the country, making it one of the first evidence-based, national deworming programs in sub-Saharan Africa.
Miguel's research on deworming has been covered by the New York Times,, as well as the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
and Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
. In May 2011, Miguel's and Kremer’s work was featured in a column by Nicholas Kristof on the importance of impact evaluation.
Partners
CEGA partners with governments, foundations and non-profit organizations to implement impact evaluations, trainings and research dissemination. In each of these areas, the Center works closely with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action LabAbdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab is an academic center located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Economics which is dedicated to evaluating the impact of anti-poverty programs through randomized controlled trials similar to those used in medical research...
(J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
(MIT) and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). CEGA and J-PAL jointly manage the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative, an initiative that seeks to improve the appropriate adoption of agricultural technologies by small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.