Whether policy measures achieve their goals can only be answered with credible empirical evidence. They cost money, tie up administrative capacity and intervene in people’s lives. All the more reason to know whether they work, and for whom. That evidence is what we provide: for ministries, commissions and international institutions.
We support the evaluation of policy measures across the entire process: from designing the study, through the microeconometric analysis of effects, to the derivation of policy recommendations. It begins with the question of what a measure is meant to achieve and how its success can be measured. Ideally this work starts before a programme is launched, but we are often brought in once it is already running. Even then a robust design can be built, using existing data and, where these fall short, additional data collection.
At the centre lies the causal question: which effects can actually be attributed to a measure rather than to other influences? To answer it we draw on the toolkit of modern evaluation research, such as difference-in-differences approaches that exploit regional or temporal variation in exposure, matching methods, regression discontinuity designs where programme rules create natural comparison groups, and randomised trials where they are feasible. Which method is appropriate depends on the measure and the data.
Just as important as the choice of method is the handling of data. We work with administrative register data, large-scale surveys such as the German Socio-Economic Panel and the Structure of Earnings Survey, linked datasets, and data collected specifically for a study.
Our clients range from federal ministries and the Minimum Wage Commission to the European Commission and the UK Space Agency. Our experience spans all four thematic fields described on this page. More recently, we have also been advising young companies that want to base their decisions on data. Because our findings inform decisions, we communicate them in a way that is understandable without a background in methods, and we state clearly what the evidence does or does not show.
Our thematic fields in evaluation
Labour Market & Education
This is our core thematic area: from the minimum wage and active labour market measures to the multi-year evaluation of the Startchancen Programme.
Health
We provide methodological support for clinical studies of digital health applications and work with medical panel and register data, applying the rigorous standards of evaluation research.
Entrepreneurship & Start-ups
We evaluate whether start-up support works. We advise young companies directly, from study planning to data analysis.
Space & Beyond
Our methodological expertise carries over to new sectors. In two current projects we are examining whether space funding generates innovation and jobs.