PEI June 2023

On June 14^th & 15^th, 2023, the Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI), Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) department and technical partners will host a technical workshop on building evidence on moving Government-led Economic Inclusion (EI) programs to scale.

The event follows a Policy Impact Workshop convened in Lisbon from May 23^rd – 26^th, 2022 for country teams who were at early stages of planning evaluations and needed support to design impact evaluations, as well as buy-in from policy makers. This workshop is part of a series of technical assistance and knowledge events planned by PEI and DIME as part of PEI’s Impact Collaborative.

This virtual (hybrid) technical workshop is designed to showcase the progress made by seven country teams that have been supported by the PEI impact collaborative to conduct in-country IE workshops and refine their IE designs through close engagement with policymakers.

The workshop will be divided in three thematic sessions on Optimizing for Scale, Urban Adaptations, and Fragile Settings, followed by panel discussions on Mixed Methods and Cost Measurement for EI-related studies.

Objectives: 

The key objectives of the technical research workshop are as follows:

to provide an opportunity to research teams to share their IE design, discuss implementation challenges, and receive feedback from sector experts
facilitate and encourage peer-to-peer knowledge learning among the participating teams, PEI, DIME and technical partners in the field.
to ignite discussion on critical complementary research on mixed methods and costing

The research workshop is open to World Bank’s operations and research staff who are interested in robust evidence to scale EI programs, as well as partner researchers.

Day 1 — June 14, 2023
9:00–09:30	Opening Session — Stocktaking — the PEI Impact Collaborative after 1.5 year Updates on big picture directions for PEI (5 minutes) Colin Andrews, Practice Manager, PEI, World Bank PEI Impact Collaborative — Progress so far (5 minutes) Patrick Premand, Senior Economist, DIME, World Bank ➜ Presentation Reflections from Task Teams on Engagement with Policymakers to Date (5 minutes each) Ioana Botea, Economist, SPJ, World Bank Margaux Vinez, Senior Economist, SPJ, World Bank How can the Impact collaborative move the economic inclusion evidence agenda forward? (5 minutes) Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University; Chief Economist, USAID
09:30–11:00	Session 1: Optimizing Economic Inclusion Programs for Scale Representatives from research teams working with country operations will present the design of their impact evaluations studies, focused on assessing innovations that could effectively scale up economic inclusion programs through government systems. Moderator: Patrick Premand, Senior Economist, DIME, World Bank *Presentations:* (15 minutes each) Assessing livelihoods interventions as part of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program-V Gashaw Tadesse Abate, Research Fellow, Markets, Trade, and Institutions, IFPRI & John Loeser, Economist, DIME, World Bank ➜ Presentation Sierra Leone’s Productive Social Safety Nets and Youth Employment: Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of different livelihood packages Benedetta Lerva, Economist, DIME, World Bank ➜ Presentation Evaluating the optimal economic inclusion bundle - Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project in Malawi Martin Mwale, Post-doc Researcher, Stellenbosch University & Emily Beam, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Vermont ➜ Presentation *Discussants:* (7 minutes each) Michael King, Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin ➜ Presentation Eeshani Kandpal, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development ➜ Presentation *Moderated Discussion* (20 minutes)
11:00–11:15	COFFEE BREAK
11:15–12:30	Session 2: Economic Inclusion in Urban Settings Representatives from research teams working with country operations will present the design of their impact evaluations studies which focus on assessing government-led economic inclusion interventions implemented in urban areas. Moderator: Marcus Holmlund, Senior Economist & Research Manager, DIME, World Bank *Presentations:* (15 minutes each) Socio-Economic Inclusion of Youth: Testing different saving, coaching, and mentoring modalities targeted to urban youth in Cameroon’s informal sector Antoine Deeb, Economist, DIME, World Bank ➜ Presentation Optimal bundling and alternative program modalities: Evaluating Ethiopia’s Urban Productive Safety Net and Jobs Program Kathleen Beegle Research Manager, DECRG, World Bank ➜ Presentation *Discussants:* (7 minutes each) Bruno Crepon, Professor of Economics and Econometrics, ENSAE and École Polytechnique & Co-Chair of J-PAL's Labor Markets Joana Silva, Senior Economist, HD Chief Economist Office, World Bank ➜ Presentation *Moderated Discussion* (20 minutes)
12:30–13:30	LUNCH
13:30–14:30	Ignite and Discussion: PEI Measurement Framework: Mixed Methods Framing Presentation: Inés Arevalo Sanchez, Senior Consultant, PEI, World Bank (7 minutes) ➜ Presentation Panel Discussion (45 minutes): How to integrate mixed method approaches into the IE Collaborative? Moderator: Kathleen Beegle Research Manager, DECRG, World Bank Discussants: Margaux Vinez, Senior Economist, SPJ, World Bank Lasse Brune, Research Assistant Professor, Northwestern University Catherine Thomas, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan
Day 2 — June 15, 2023
09:00–10:15	Session 3: Economic inclusion in fragile settings Representatives from research teams working with country operations will present the design of their impact evaluations studies, focused on how to assess interventions in fragile settings by generating mechanisms for their economic inclusion. Moderator: Inés Arevalo Sanchez, Senior Consultant, PEI, World Bank *Presentations:* (15 minutes each) Productive Safety Net for Socioeconomic Opportunities Project: Testing different targeting strategies based on gender for a livelihood intervention in South Sudan Arlen Guarin, Economist, DIME, World Bank & Lasse Brune, Research Assistant Professor, Northwestern University ➜ Presentation Economic Inclusion for persons with disability: Increasing Empowerment and Resilience in Haiti Kelsey Wright, Paris School of Economics ➜ Presentation *Discussants:* (7 minutes each) Julia Vaillant, Senior Economist, Africa GIL, World Bank Benjamin Crost, Associate Professor, University of Calgary ➜ Presentation *Moderated Discussion* (20 minutes)
10:15–10:30	BREAK
10:30–11:30	Ignite and Discussion: PEI Measurement Framework: Measuring Costs Framing Presentation: Sarang Chaudhary, ET Consultant, PEI, World Bank (7 minutes) ➜ Presentation Panel Discussion (45 minutes): How to measure costs and lay the groundwork for cost benefit analysis in the early stages of IE implementation? Moderator: Cornelia Tesliuc, Senior Social Protection Specialist, SPJ, World Bank Discussants: Samik Adhikari, Senior Economist, SPJ, World Bank Emily Beam, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Vermont Pascal Jaupart, Economist, SPJ, World Bank
11:30–11:45	Reflections on the ways forward for the PEI Impact collaborative Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University; Chief Economist, USAID
11:45–12:00	Closing Remarks — Next steps for the PEI Impact Collaborative Colin Andrews, Program Manager, PEI, World Bank Patrick Premand, Senior Economist, DIME, World Bank ➜ Presentation
12:00–13:00	LUNCH