Field project in European regulation

Impact assessments and ex-post evaluations provide evidence-based assessment of the expected and observed performance of policies and regulations. Their findings aim at supporting political decision-making and inform the design of new interventions. For these reasons, impact assessments and ex-post evaluations have been developed into a key policy-making tool at EU level (under the EU’s Better Regulation Agenda), but they are also used by other international organisations (such as the OECD and the World Bank) and national administrations to increase the value added of their policy interventions and achieve public policy objectives at minimum cost.

The capability to evaluate policies is considered as a key job requirement for economists wanting to work in the public sector or in private companies advising the public sector. This course aims at improving the knowledge of students regarding the concepts of ex-ante and ex-post evaluations and the methods that can be used to carry out such evaluations. Real-life examples of ex-post evaluations and impact assessments of EU policies and regulations will be discussed and analysed.

This course includes two main parts. The first part consists in lectures dealing with the following issues:

• Definition and types of economic evaluation
• Main steps in an ex-post evaluation and impact assessment project
• Methodologies for ex-post evaluation and impact assessment

The lectures take place during the first part of the quadrimester.

The second part of the course consists in work in groups of students on a self-selected evaluation case. Each group has to select a case amongst a list of EU relevant  evaluations and impact assessments. A list of cases is proposed by the professors but students are free to make suggestions. Each group has to write a short inception report and a final report describing and critically analysing the evaluation/impact assessment case on the basis of the tools introduced during the theoretical part of the course and following a pre-defined structure. The analysis will furthermore take into account relevant policy documents, views from stakeholders and academic literature.

A presentation of inception reports, followed by a discussion, takes place  after the end of the lectures. The objective of this session is to provide feed-back from the professors and the students for the preparation of the final reports. The presentations of the final reports are organised as follows: each report is presented by the members of the group on the basis of a PowerPoint presentation and is discussed by the members of another group followed by general discussion and questions from the professors.

The reports submitted in the context of the Field Project in European Regulation will be considered as a thesis or an end of studies work for the purpose of implementing Article 40 of the "Règlement général des études de l'ULB" concerning the use of generative artificial intelligence. 

By the end of the course the students will be able to:

• Understand the main analytical steps in ex-post evaluations and impact assessments;
• Apply key tools for evaluation: evaluation questions, evaluation criteria  and  intervention logic diagrams;
• Select adequate methodologies to deal with ex-post evaluation and impact assessment projects;
• Analyse in a comprehensive way the crucial role of evaluation for the success of a policy project;
• Prepare a critical analysis of existing ex-post evaluations and impact assessments;
• Communicate clearly and in a structured way (in writing and orally) about this critical analysis;
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of an existing report and launch a discussion on this report;
• Work in teams  on a project and manage time in order to ensure timely delivery.

Lectures, group projects and oral presentations made by students.
The interaction between participants is an essential element of the learning activities.
The presence of all students at the lectures and at the presentation of each group is therefore compulsory.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

These resources will be tailored to the specific topic of the group project and published on the course website on the virtual university.

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

fabienne.ilzkovitz@ulb.be

jean-pierre.de.laet@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Oral examination
• Oral presentation
• Group work
• Written report

Oral examination

Oral presentation

Group work

Written report

First session

No exam will take place. The evaluation is based on the written report, a critical and constructive assessment of the report of another group of students, the oral presentation of the group project and of the assessment of the report of the other group as well as attendance and participation in the general discussion throughout the course.

Second session

Oral exam or submission and presentation of a written report.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

First session

The marking of each student will be based on the following elements: 50% for the written reports, 30% for the oral presentation and 20% for attendance and participation in the general discussion throughout the course.

Second session

The marking of each student will be based on the following elements:

100% for the results of the oral exam or
50% for the written report and 50% for the presentation of the report

Language(s) of evaluation

• english