Cost-effectiveness evidence powers better program design, implementation, and ultimately greater impact.
Cost-effectiveness is a measure of impact for every dollar spent on a particular population, and it’s a catalytic engine that can drive greater outcomes across a range of global development and humanitarian assistance programming.
The scale of challenges decision-makers face around the world has outpaced the resources at their disposal. With limited budgets, constrained staff resources, and shifting geopolitical relationships, leaders need better and more relevant information about how best to achieve their outcomes. Causal evidence on cost can point the way.
Unfortunately, impact evaluations only reveal part of the picture. Cost evidence is essential for policymakers to decide how to allocate scarce resources. Yet, fewer than one in five impact evaluations integrate cost evidence.
As decision-makers prioritize rigorous evidence in the design and implementation of development interventions and humanitarian aid, cost-effectiveness data promises to transform how organizations allocate their budgets, ensuring every dollar achieves maximum impact.
Advancing Cost-Effectiveness
CEGA is at the forefront of the movement to build cost-effectiveness into impact evaluations and decision-making. For years, we have invested in improving the market for cost data by generating detailed cost estimates, building research capacity, creating tools and models, empowering users, and convening our existing costing community.
Initiatives
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The Cost-Effectiveness Lab improves and scales the use of high-quality cost evidence in impact evaluation and for decision-making.
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War costs humanity more than $10 trillion per year. What would it cost to prevent it?
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CEGA, USAID, & GiveDirectly developed new methods to compare traditional development programs to a benchmark of cost-equivalent digital cash transfers
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Promoting Impact and Learning with Cost-Effectiveness Evidence (PILCEE)
PILCEE was a major investment by USAID to improve its efforts to fight global poverty and promote economic growth with cost-effectiveness evidence.
