Other Evaluations: Topical Papers, Impact Evaluations, Working Papers, Synthesis Notes

More than 70% of world trade takes place through global value chains (GVCs), highlighting their importance to trade in goods and services, food security, and sustainable development. The paper provides an evidence and gap map (EGM) of studies on the effectiveness of GVC interventions in Asia and the Pacific and compares it with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) own GVC-related project interventions. 

Technical assistance (TA) is one of the main instruments used by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support its developing member countries (DMCs) to achieve their development goals. Through its TA operations, ADB provides support to capacity development, policy advice, research and development, and project preparation and implementation. 

This synthesis report drew key lessons from the 90 completed TA completion reports (TCRs) circulated between July 2022 and June 2023 that were validated by IED. This is the third synthesis note on TCR validations (TCRVs) and it extracts lessons that were learned in the TCRs and validation reports that can contribute to the design and implementation of future TA operations.  

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in low- and middle-income countries face the most difficulty in accessing financing for their businesses, and financial literacy is another barrier. For this reason, promoting MSME access to finance has become a development priority for governments and development partners. As the number of initiatives to increase MSMEs’ access to finance has been growing, so has the number of studies assessing their effectiveness.

This synthesis note distills knowledge from independent validations of technical assistance completion reports (TCRs) to help improve the design and implementation of future technical assistance (TA) operations. This is the second TCR validation (TCRV) synthesis note prepared by the Independent Evaluation Department (IED). This note provides a snapshot of TA performance from a total of 92 TCRVs conducted from July 2021 to June 2022 and contributes to institutional learning and future TA and knowledge work.

The end goal of all evaluation is influence. Evaluation influence comes at various levels and in various types. The Independent Evaluation Department (IED) enhances the development effectiveness of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) future operations by systematically evaluating its projects, country programs, sector support, policies, strategies, and corporate and thematic priorities. The cornerstone of evaluation influence is the evaluation report, which must be high-quality, credible, timely, and relevant to user demands.

This synthesis paper provides observations and emerging lessons from technical assistance completion report (TCR) validations. This paper provides emerging lessons and illustrative examples based on the first year of mainstreaming the TCR validation system.

This synthesis report of evaluations of projects in the water and other urban infrastructure and services (WUS) sector consolidates the key findings and lessons from independent evaluations of projects conducted during 2017–2020. Sector synthesis reports aim to increase the usability of the evaluation reports and to feed lessons from past WUS projects to those under preparation or in the pipeline in order to improve project quality-at-entry and delivery.

This paper provides a synthesis of lessons from evaluations of public financial management (PFM) support by ADB, other multilateral development banks, and the International Monetary Fund, as well as lessons from research and analysis by other international organizations such as the World Health Organization. It draws upon experience from past crises, and from previous budget support operations targeted at medium-term PFM reforms, emphasizing the lessons they offer.

Project-level evaluation helps to distill lessons that can be used to guide future responsiveness and quality at entry, through better project designs and implementation. It also supports knowledge enhancement within the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and is aligned with ADB’s Strategy 2030, which emphasizes the sustained outcomes of a project.

This synthesis paper aims to summarize, synthesize, and integrate research findings and lessons from evaluations of ADB’s two decades of experience supporting social assistance initiatives. It aims to inform the design and implementation of similar interventions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic period, and IED’s ongoing and future evaluations.