Evaluation Review最新文献

This introduction to the second special issue of Evaluation review on external validity and generalizability opens a dialogue between different ways to think about generalizability in program evaluation. It argues that generalizability in impact evaluation fundamentally is about inferring some form of causality at a level broader than the specific circumstances of the initial study or studies from which these inferences are drawn. The question, then, is about how one apprehends causality: in other words, what is being generalized and how? The first special issue mainly relied on a counterfactual conception of causality, embodied by experimental and quasi-experimental methods, that aimed at impact measurement. The articles in this volume, drawing on mixed methods, also mobilize generative and configurational causal inferences to provide further levers of generalizability, focusing on how the impact is produced. The introduction insists on the specific input of qualitative methods in this respect, as theorized by grounded theory.

In this letter to the editor, we compare six different event history models to estimate which eligible families participated in a subsidized rental housing program and when. Answering these questions can inform efforts to improve program marketing and outreach, staffing and budgeting, triage, bias identification, as well as benchmarking and evaluation. One of six specifications clearly outperforms the others and understanding how will inform similar research pursuits. Although decision-relevant participation patterns are available in state administrative records, deciphering them is difficult for several well-known reasons. Participants enter and exit the eligible risk pool at different times, for different reasons, and at different rates. To answer our questions of when and whom, we restructure the data from calendar to relative months and then employ event history models designed to accurately estimate a complete hypothetical risk trajectory from observed spells of varying lengths, many of which ended before families took up the rental subsidy, (i.e., censored observation spells). We find that eligible parents most likely to take up the subsidy live in high-rent counties, have relatively strong recent work history, short prior adult lifetime TANF receipt, and medium-size families. Program take-up fell substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contrasting the application of six parallel specifications, we find that a Royston-Parmar proportional hazard model achieves an exceptional balance between the descriptive accuracy of discrete time approaches and the elegance of Cox regression.

The foremost index of caregiving quality is child attachment, as supported by attachment theory. Research supports the relevance of early parenting interventions in improving child outcomes in attachment quality to promote public health because of their long-term effects on mental health and functioning. This study aimed at evaluating the impact on both parenting and child outcomes of the Parent-Child Psychological Support Programme® (PCPS), a community-based program individually tailored to parents and their infants during periodic center-based visits to promote attachment security. The evaluation involved two cohorts from "vulnerable populations" and used the resources embedded in the program design without interfering with the normal functioning of the service. From an evaluative research approach, the effects on mothers and children were assessed using a quantitative approach. Pre- and post-test measures (parenting questionnaires) and child attachment quality assessments through the Strange Situation Procedure were examined. The equivalence of the cohorts was verified and used as a baseline for parenting outcomes. PCPS participants demonstrated increased parental competence and self-efficacy, as well as reduced levels of parenting stress. Analysis of the two cohorts showed a significant difference in the number of visits and proxies for intervention, which were associated with the expected pre-post changes in parenting dimensions. The proportion of securely attached children was significantly higher in the "medium-high intervention" group than in the "no/low intervention" group (72.7% vs 54.5%). Furthermore, compared with international baselines, this proportion showed no differences in the "no-/low-intervention" group but demonstrated expected significant differences in the "medium-high intervention" group.

Gold and stocks, which are conventionally regarded as a safe haven and risk assets, respectively, exhibit complex interrelationships, with significant implications for financial risk management. This paper builds on the sentiment categorization proposed by Liang et al. (2020) to distinguish between private and public sector sentiment. The construction of sentiment indices for both sectors aims to allow the exploration of the heterogeneous effects of these sector-specific sentiments on the gold-stock market linkages in China under different market conditions. The empirical results demonstrate a notable asymmetry in the impact of market sentiment between the public and private sectors, with distinct manifestations in stable versus highly volatile market environments. Specifically, positive sentiment in the public sector tends to diminish the safe-haven function of gold, whereas positive sentiment in the private sector tends to reinforce it. This disparity becomes particularly evident during periods of extreme market volatility. Our findings not only underscore the diverse impacts of market sentiment but also provide novel insights into the importance of incorporating sector-specific sentiment when devising hedging strategies for specific industries.

In modern firms, conflicts may arise between the chief executive officer and board of directors due to the separation of ownership and operations. Such conflicts may weaken listed companies' performance in the short term or affect their development in the long term. Using data on Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022, this study empirically examines the impact of internal control quality on boardroom backscratching. We find that internal control quality significantly mitigates boardroom backscratching by reducing agency costs and increasing analyst attention. This effect is more significant in firms where the management holds less power and the product market is highly competitive. Furthermore, the mitigating effects of internal control quality on boardroom backscratching effectively reduce the risk of the company's share price collapsing. Overall, this study enriches the literature on boardroom backscratching and internal control quality, and provides valuable references for stakeholders, including listed companies, to improve firm governance efficiency and, thus, maintain the stability of capital markets.

The information technology revolution has fundamentally altered company operations around the world. The Internet has significantly enhanced employee connectedness in the workplace, eclipsing the antiquated brick-and-mortar model. Nonetheless, as information technology advances, cyberbullying has grown in popularity in the professional environment. Cyberbullying is not geographically, temporally, or milieu-specific. Arguments concerning this ubiquitous danger have plagued scholars and professionals for several decades as they debated its conception, prevalence, and implications. The current research digs into many facets of cyberbullying to facilitate the creation of constructive policies and effectively manage the labor environment. Additionally, a few ideas and remedies are offered, as well as the future course of action for effectively addressing the crucial issue of cyberbullying.

This study used daily experimental data from smart bands worn by 142 respondents to investigate the relationship between the number of minutes slept and self-reported mood. The results showed that more minutes of sleep were associated with improved mood. Time preferences, altruism, and trust were also associated with mood. Finally, our analysis revealed that the only mechanism through which sleep affects mood is positive reciprocity. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the connections among healthy habits, sleep quality, economic preferences, and their effects on mood.

Performance management in university-based scientific research institutions is essential for driving reform, advancing education quality, and fostering innovation. However, current performance evaluation models often focus solely on research indicators, neglecting the critical interdependence between the education and research systems. This oversight leads to inefficiencies in resource allocation and an underestimation of overall institutional performance, particularly in universities with varying development levels. To address these deficiencies, this study introduces two innovative two-stage data envelopment analysis models: the group-frontier and meta-frontier evaluation models. The findings are validated using data from 144 universities across China. They demonstrate that the proposed models effectively mitigate the underestimation of efficiency in traditional models and accurately reflect the intertwined nature of university subsystems and the disparities in university development. These results offer valuable insights for improving the performance of scientific research institutions and informing the strategic decisions of university administrators and government education departments.

This paper presents a methodological advancement by integrating Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Process Tracing (PT) in the evaluation of training transfer effectiveness in Flemish SMEs. This multimethod approach leverages the strengths of both QCA and PT to enhance internal and external validity, offering a robust framework for capturing the conditions and causal mechanisms underlying policy interventions. By sequentially applying QCA to identify necessary and sufficient conditions and PT to unpack the causal processes, the study provides a comprehensive analysis that addresses both "what works" and "how it works." Our findings demonstrate that combining these methods allows for more nuanced insights into the effectiveness of training programs, ultimately contributing to the empirical validation of policy theories and the development of evidence-based interventions. This research underscores the potential of multimethod evaluations to produce more reliable and generalizable results, thereby offering valuable guidance for evaluators and policymakers seeking to enhance the impact of their programs.

This study examined the impact of ITV intervention on reduction in the propensity to abuse substances and engage in drug trafficking. The researcher conducted this study using an experiment of 517 vulnerable adolescents aged 10-19 years. The participants were randomly assigned to control (n = 258) and treatment (n = 259) groups. The researchers found a significant main effect of treatment conditions on reduction in the propensity to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking among vulnerable adolescents. That is, before the intervention, there was no significant statistical difference between the control and treatment groups on the propensity to engage in substance abuse and drug trafficking. However, vulnerable children who received the intervention reported a significant reduction in propensity after the intervention. The results highlight the usefulness of ITV as a behaviour change strategy for vulnerable children.