Innovations for Poverty Action

Primary objectives:1) Conduct randomized evaluations of international development programs. Learn not just whether something works but why, so as to make the findings useful for replication and scaling in other countries and settings.2) Facilitate the integration of evaluation processes into daily operations to help management continually improve.3) Disseminate results of successful and reliable evaluations. 4) Facilitate the replication of successful projects to other appropriate areas of the

Mission

Primary objectives:1) Conduct randomized evaluations of international development programs. Learn not just whether something works but why, so as to make the findings useful for replication and scaling in other countries and settings.2) Facilitate the integration of evaluation processes into daily operations to help management continually improve.3) Disseminate results of successful and reliable evaluations. 4) Facilitate the replication of successful projects to other appropriate areas of the world.Why is IPA needed?This evaluative regime allows program managers and donors/social investors to invest scarce resources in the most effective activities. Typically, however, the requirements of managing the daily operations of programs leave little time or money to conduct useful, productive evaluations. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that even when rigorous evaluation is done (mainly by academics), there is often no help given to organizations to use the evaluation results and follow-through with implementation of what has been learned after the research is completed. IPA bridges this gap.

Programs

Good evaluative research is a means to an end; the research should help practitioners better allocate their resources and improve their operations. Examples of some our current evaluative research projects include the following:Business Training for Microfinance Clients in PeruBusiness Training and Health Education for Microfinance Clients in the PhilippinesLaunching a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines Finding Missing Markets: Providing Farmers Better Market Access for Cash Crops Interest Rates and Microfinance: How do Clients Respond to Interest Rates? Should Lenders Set Risk-Based Interest Rates?Marketing Consumer Loans: Evaluating Effectiveness of Marketing for Microfinance Studying Levels of Trust in Social Networks and Testing Trust Building Community Exercises in Shantytowns of Peru