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More Bang for Your Buck: Best-Practice Recommendations for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Job Creation Studies

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  • Paloma Bernal-Turnes

    (Rey Juan Carlos University
    Georgetown University
    The World Bank)

  • Ricardo Ernst

    (Georgetown University)

Abstract

This paper discusses the application of robust experimental research methodologies that help to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms of the Theory of Change, for which training programs and/or matching grants improve job creation in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs and SMEs). The literature on both interventions, such as training and matching grants, recognizes methodological flaws that hamper achieving enough statistical evidence to test the aforementioned Theory of Change. A better understanding of the interventions and the mechanisms to create jobs has become critical to ensure the resurgence of the global economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and to face the threat of the upcoming industrial revolution. This paper proposes seven methodological meliorations in impact evaluation that will help to set improvements alongside the full process of a project: designing superior policies and programs, implementing projects, supporting the finer assessment of interventions, and establishing the subsequent advancement of science in testing solutions for job creation.

Suggested Citation

  • Paloma Bernal-Turnes & Ricardo Ernst, 2024. "More Bang for Your Buck: Best-Practice Recommendations for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Job Creation Studies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 1889-1912, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s13132-023-01199-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-023-01199-8
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