iDSI Reference Case for Economic Evaluation

This paper discusses the need to supplement benefit-cost analysis with estimates of how the impacts are distributed across different members of the population, categorized by income level or other attributes. Benefit-cost analysis focuses on estimating aggregate net effects. Decision-makers and other stakeholders also want to know who is harmed, who is helped, and by how much. Responding to these questions requires identifying the characteristics of individuals and impacts of concern, examining how the benefits and…

This paper reviews the literature on the monetary value of time in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on time spent in the informal sector; i.e., for which no compensation is received. Valuing changes in time use is often a critical element of economic analyses of development projects, which may affect the time spent in activities such as collecting water or traveling to health clinics. The authors find support for a commonly-used benchmark of 50% of…

This report details the work of the Methods for Economic Evaluation Project (MEEP), which aims to promote a consistency in the methods used for economic evaluations. The report is targeted especially at low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a major funder of health economic evaluations in LMICs, but there is substantial variation in the methods used and the quality of the analyses produced. The report drew on expertise from…