Introduction

Abstract

Policy evaluation and programme choice are important tools for informed decision-making, for example with respect to active labour market programmes, welfare-to-work programmes, vocational training programmes, entrepreneurship promotion schemes, educational programmes, tuition subsidies, sickness rehabilitation programmes or disease prevention programmes. Both, policy evaluation and programme choice, are not ends in themselves but indispensable steps towards the efficient allocation of resources and towards the improvement of existing policies. Whereas the evaluation of programmes and policies is mainly concerned with an overall assessment of impact, benefits and costs, programme choice is directed towards achieving the optimal allocation of individuals to the programmes. Together they form a unified whole: For an ex-post assessment of policy impact and allocation efficiency and for deriving recommendations for how programmes should be modified and for which individuals should participate in which programmes. To take full account of their potential, policy evaluation and programme choice should be incorporated into an integrated system of resources planning and participant allocation, which would assist in assigning individuals to their optimal programmes (Statistically Assisted Programme Selection, SAPS).