EVALUATING LOCAL ECONOMIC AND EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE AGENDA Austria Centre, Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1, Vienna November 20 th and 21 st, 2002 OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme European Commission (DG-Employment and Social Affairs) Austrian Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour
Conference Aims Every year OECD Member countries dedicate significant public resources to programmes aimed at local and regional development. These resources include funds from sub-national authorities as well as money from central (and supranational) governments for schemes implemented by local bodies. In spite of the magnitude of this spending which amounts to billions of EURO per year in many countries there is little expenditure on evaluations that provide useful information for policymakers. Much evaluative activity is perfunctory and of poor quality, while various forms of audit and process control often substitute for genuine economic assessment of the costs and benefits of policy. The evaluation deficit has many causes. These range from lack of political commitment and resistance among programme managers, to the costs and methodological challenges of good-quality evaluation. The consequences of this evaluation shortfall are numerous and important. They include wasteful public expenditure on a potentially large scale, inadequate learning from local policy innovation, and erroneous identification of best practice. The OECD s Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme is seeking to encourage an improvement on this situation. Organised in collaboration with the European Commission and the Austrian Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour, this Conference aims to examine in ways that are theoretically sound but easily amenable to policymakers how the evaluation of programmes for local development is best designed and implemented. This Conference is organised around three broad sets of issues: - Firstly, the opening and closing sessions consider ways to encourage increase and improve government investment in and learning from evaluation. - A second set of presentations focuses on how best to evaluate the most commonly employed local development programmes. The particular problems of evaluating training, technical extension services, assistance to third sector organisations, support to entrepreneurship, territorial employment pacts, micro-credit schemes and other tools will be examined by leading practitioners. - A third area of focus covers the latest insights on how to assess the broader economic and social effects of area-based public policy. Ways of undertaking area-wide evaluations of multi-instrument strategies will be considered. Particular consideration will be given to the experience of quantitative modelling used more frequently in the United States. Both the ideal and feasible data requirements for undertaking area-wide evaluations of multi- -instrument strategies will be considered. The debates and exchanges of view during this event, as well as Conference papers and other material, will be drawn together in one or more OECD books. These publications will seek to provide practical and methodologically sound guidance on evaluation to policymakers and practitioners across the OECD. In so doing, the OECD aims to contribute to improving the quality of public policy for local economic and employment development.
DAY 1 November 20 th MORNING PUBLIC POLICY AND EVALUATION 8:30 9:30 REGISTRATION 9:30 9:45 WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS Dr. Martin Bartenstein, Austrian Minister for Economic Affairs and Labour Dr. John Martin, Director, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD 9:45 10:00 INTRODUCTION Mr. Alistair Nolan, OECD/LEED Secretariat 10:00 11:00 EVALUATION RESEARCH AND POLICY LEARNING Mr. Ging Wong, Director, Capacity, Privy Council Office, Government of Canada Professor Robert Walker, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom 11:00 11:20 BREAK 11:20 12:30 REVIEW OF EVALUATION CONCEPTS Economic Development Programmes Dr. Elliot Stern, Head of Evaluation Studies, Tavistock Institute, President, European Evaluation Society Labour Market Programmes Professor Jeffrey Smith, Department of Economics, University of Maryland, USA 12:30 14:00 LUNCH
DAY 1 November 20 th AFTERNOON EVALUATING PROGRAMME IMPACTS ON LOCALITIES 14:00 15:00 EVALUATING IMPACTS ON LOCAL ECONOMIES: WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND WHAT IS DOABLE? Discussant: 15:00 15:15 BREAK Dr. Timothy Bartik, W. E. Upjohn Institute, USA Dr. Daniele Bondonio, University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy 15:15 16:45 Three Parallel Workshops A. ANALYSING POLICIES FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT USING FORECASTING MODELS Chair: Dr. Robert A. Wilson, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, United Kingdom Dr. George I. Treyz, President, Regional Economic Models Inc., USA B. EVALUATING EU SUPPORT TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Chair: Professor Edward M. Bergman, Institute for Urban and Regional Studies, Wirtschafts Universitat, Vienna Ms. Elena Saraceno, European Commission, Presenting the LEADER 1 Community Initiative Discussant: Jeremy Harrison, Associate, the Cambridge International Land Institute at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, United Kingdom C. LESSONS LEARNED IN DOING EVALUATIONS OF AREA-BASED DEVELOPMENT: THE EXPERIENCE OF THE UK Chair: Dr. Jonathan Potter, OECD/LEED Secretariat Professor Brian Robson, Director, Centre for Urban Policy Studies (CUPS), University of Manchester, United Kingdom 16:45 17:00 BREAK 17:00 17:30 SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP DEBATES AND CONCLUSIONS Speakers: Workshop Chairs and Speakers 19:30 Dinner hosted by the Conference Organisers Restaurant Piaristenkeller, Piarestengasse 45, 1080 Vienna
DAY 2 November 21 st MORNING THEORY INTO PRACTICE: EVALUATING PROGRAMMES USED FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT 9:00 9:50 EVALUATING BUSINESS ADVISORY AND SUPPORT SERVICES Dr. Eric Oldsman, President, Nexus Associates, USA 9:50 10:40 EVALUATING TRAINING PROGRAMMES Speakers: 10:40 11:00 BREAK Dr. Christopher J. O Leary, Senior Economist, W. E. Upjohn Institute, USA Dr. Randall Eberts, Executive Director, W. E. Upjohn Institute, USA 11:00 12:30 Three Parallel Workshops A. EVALUATING PROGRAMMES IN THE THIRD SECTOR Chair: Discussant: Ms. Linda Powell, Assistant Secretary, Department of Family and Community Service, Australia Dr. Nicoletta Stame, University of Rome and Vice-President of the European Evaluation Society Ms. Andrea Westall, Deputy-Director, New Economics Foundation, United Kingdom B. EVALUATING TERRITORIAL EMPLOYMENT PACTS METHODOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES Chair: Dr. Hugh Mosley, Social Science Research Centre, Berlin Speakers: Dr. Peter Huber, The Austrian Institute of Economic Research, Austria Dr. Paola Casavola, Evaluation Unit, Ministry of the Economy, Italy C. EVALUATING MICRO-FINANCE Chair: Ms. Unni B. Sekkesaeter, University of Bradford, United Kingdom Dr. Gary M. Woller, Brigham Young University, USA. Discussant: Mr. Carlos Mendizabal, Presidential Office for Strategic Planning and Regional Development, Mexican Presidency 12:30 13:45 LUNCH
DAY 2 November 21 st AFTERNOON 13:45 14:30 SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP DEBATES AND CONCLUSIONS Speakers: Workshop Chairs and Speakers 14:30 16:00 Panel Debate: GOVERNMENT COMMITMENT TO EVALUATION: SHOULD THE PRESENT SITUATION BE IMPROVED? IF SO, HOW? Chair: Mr. Ging Wong, Canadian Delegate to the OECD/LEED Programme Panelists: Professor Edward W. Hill, Cleveland State University, USA Dr. Philip Davies, The Cabinet Office, United Kingdom Rt. Hon. Henry B. McLeish, Member of the Scottish Parliament and former First Minister of Scotland Professor Alice Nakamura, University of Alberta, Canada (Rapporteur) Mr. Stephen Wandner, Department of Labor, USA Ms Helle Rasmussen, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Employment, Denmark 16:00 16:20 BREAK 16:20 16:45 CONFERENCE SUMMARY AND THE NEXT STEPS FOR THE OECD/LEED Speakers: Mr. Sergio Arzeni, Head of the LEED Programme Mr. Alistair Nolan, OECD/LEED Secretariat 16:45 17:00 CLOSING REMARKS Speakers: Dr. Carlos Flores Alcocer, Chief Co-ordinator for Strategic Planning and Regional Development Advisors, Presidency of Mexico, and Chairman of the OECD/LEED Directing Committee Mr. Michael Förschner, Austrian Ministry of Labour