KAFP 6540 - Policy Analysis and Policy Evaluation - Intermediate

The focus of the Policy Analysis and Policy Assessment course is to provide an overview of the evaluation discipline as well as present the key quantitative tools used for policies’ appraisal. The aim will be to mathematically define the evaluation methods in scope, as well as the intuition to interpret them once applied on a real-life case. The course will provide an overview of the principal methods used in policy and evaluation analysis (RCT, Matching, Difference in Differences, Regression Discontinuity Design and Instrumental Variables). It will also present practical case studies in the field of business’ support (policies aimed at supporting SMEs’ growth and productivity), and environmental policies. Finally, the course will involve a degree of interaction with the students, in order to stimulate a fruitful debate and develop evaluative thinking.

Anna is a Senior Economist within the Ipsos UK Policy and Evaluation Unit (PEU). She obtained her PhD in Economics in 2016 from the University of Genoa (Italy). Prior to that she completed a MSc in Economics at Queen Mary University of London (UK) and in 2010 she obtained an MSc in Politics at the University of Genoa (Italy). Between 2016-2019 she taught undergraduate econometrics at the King’s College Business School in London and in 2023 she led an econometric course at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris. More recently she held a seminar about Policy and Evaluation Methods for the Executive Master of Public Administration at Sciences Po.

A basic understanding of statistics and regressions analysis, although a refresher will be proposed in in sessions 1-3.

-mid-term exam with few open questions (40% of the final grade).

-MCQ with few open questions after lecture 12 (20% of the final grade).

-Group paper on a case study (40% of the final grade, including 10% for oral presentation).