Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

2-2012

Abstract

Welfare reforms in the 1990s have shifted governments around the world towards financial assistance conditional on work. While large-scale rigorous research on welfare-to-work programs has demonstrated effectiveness towards employment in other countries, no such micro-level evaluation of a policy has ever been conducted in Singapore. This article describes the process of developing a large experimental evaluation of the Work Support Program, which the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports started in 2006. The lessons learned from planning and implementing the research can be helpful to future researchers in negotiating long-term rigorous evaluations in an environment where collaborators lack sufficient research knowledge. Insights include ways to focus on the essentials, find alternative experimental designs, collaborate effectively, and adapt instruments across cultures.

Keywords

Singapore, Work support, Evaluation, Experimental design

Discipline

Asian Studies | Economics | Labor Economics

Research Areas

Macroeconomics

Publication

Evaluation and Program Planning

Volume

35

Issue

1

First Page

78

Last Page

87

ISSN

0149-7189

Identifier

10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2011.07.002

Publisher

Elsevier

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2011.07.002

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