Economic evaluation of public programmes: lessons from the Expanded Public Works Programmes in South Africa
-
Received May 3, 2018;Accepted July 26, 2018;Published December 14, 2018
-
Author(s)Link to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9472-9294
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/pmf.07(3).2018.03
-
Article InfoVolume 7 2018, Issue #3, pp. 26-36
- TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯ
-
Cited by1 articlesJournal title:Article title:DOI:Volume: / Issue: / First page: / Year:Contributors:
- 897 Views
-
227 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This review aims at assessing the economic evaluation of public programmes such as the expanded public works programmes (EPWP) in South Africa. The South African government earmarked the EPWP for departments and municipalities to implement projects that are meaningful for economic transformation and inclusive growth. This study argues that economic evaluation of public programmes must consider the interplay of complex decisions making on resource allocations and take into account consequences thereafter in a systematic way. This review paper adopted a qualitative document analysis, where data is drawn from research reports on programme evaluation, policy documents, EPWP evaluation reports, books and articles drawn from accredited journals. Key findings from this study draw attention to unfulfilled great expectations to sustain job creation in an emerging economy in South Africa. Results also revealed that although the M&E design was suitable for the evaluation, it was not compared to any other alternative cost-effective measurement strategy to assess the economic value of the EPWP in South African public service. Based on the lessons from EPWP, this study recommends an integrative approach to evaluate job creation programmes in order to settle on the economic value of EPWP.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)H53
-
References40
-
Tables1
-
Figures2
-
- Figure 1. The simple system model
- Figure 2. EPWP Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
-
- Table 1. The Cost of Evaluating the Expanded Public Works Programme
-
- Abrahams, M. (2015). A review of the growth of monitoring and evaluation in South Africa: Monitoring and evaluation as a profession, an industry and a governance tool. African evaluation journal, 3(1).
- Basheka, B. & Byamugisha. (2016). The state of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) as a Discipline in Africa from infancy to adulthood? Africa Journal of Public Affairs. 8(3) • September 2015.
- Bryman, A. & Bell, E. (2015). Research methodology: business and management context. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
- Chapman, S. & Khembo, F. (2017). A formative evaluation of the recovery public works programme in Blantyre City, Malawi. Evaluation and Program Planning 61 (2017): 8–21.
- Chakwizira, J. (2010). Stretching the concept of the expanded public works programme in South Africa: Tracing the footsteps and gauging the footprints-the unfinished rural development transformation story, viewed 07 August 2017.
- Chen, T. (2016). Interfacing theories of programmes with theories of evaluation for advancing evaluation practice: reductionism, systems thinking, and pragmatic synthesis. Evaluation and programme planning. 59, 109–118.
- Cloete, F. & De Coning, C. & Wissink, H. & Rabie, B. (2018). Improving public policy for good governance. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
- Crouch. E (2012) Policy evaluation using cost-benefit analysis: empirical ramifications for two policy issues. All Dissertations. 1060.
- Heradien, J. (2013). An evaluation of the theory behind the South African Expanded Public Works Programme. Master’s Degree dissertation, University of Pretoria. Pretoria.
- Human Science Research Council. (2016). Expanded Public Works Programme Proposed Conceptual Framework on Sustainable Livelihoods. HSRC Roundtable: Assessing the Livelihood Impacts of Public Employment Programmes 07 June 2016.
- Ijeoma, E. (2014). Introduction to to South Africa's monitoring & evaluation in government. Pretoria: Paperbag.
- Ille, U., Eresia-Eke, C. & Ille, A. (2010). Monitoring and evaluation of public programmes and projects. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
- Lessem, R. & Schieffer, A. (2010). Integral research. USA: CRC Press.
- Levin, A., Burgess, C., Louis, P., Garrison Jr., Bauch, C., Babigumira, J., Simons, E. & Dabbagh, A. (2011). Global Eradication of Measles: An Epidemiologic and Economic Evaluation. The Journal of Infectious Diseases. Supl. 1(1). 204:S98–S106.
- McCord, A. (2003). A critical evaluation of training within the South African National Public Works Programme. Journal of Vocational Education and Training. Vol. 57, issue. 2005.
- McLaughlin, A., Gretchen & Jordan. (1999). Logic models: a tool for telling your program’s performance story. Evaluation and Program Planning. Vol. 22(1), 1999.
- Moeti, L. (2014). Towards the effective implementation of the expanded public works programme in South African municipalities: a case study of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, University of South Africa, Pretoria,
- Mohapi, B.J. (2013). An evaluation of the sustainability of the social sector of the Expanded Public Works Programme to empower women, youth and the disabled. Thesis, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
- Mouton, E. (2010). History of programme evaluation. Unpublished master’s dissertation. University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
- Nzewi, O. (2012). Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Governance in Africa: Lessons from the Civil Society African Peer Review Mechanism Monitoring Project (AMP) in South Africa. Africa Insight 41(4), 36-52.
- Pauw, J.C.; Van der Linde, GJA.; Fourie, D.J.; Visser, C.B. (2015). Managing public money Cape Town: Pearson Holdings Southern Africa.
- Phillips, S., Harrison, Mondlane, Steenderen, W. & Gordon, R. (2009). Evaluation of the Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWP) in the North-West Province. Global sustainable development report commissioned by North West department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, Centre for Poverty Employment and Growth. UCT and HSRC.
- Public Service Commission. (2014). Monitoring and Evaluation in the Public Service. Pretoria: PSC. News, March/ April Issue 2014.
- Pressman, J.L. & Wildavsky, A.B., (1984). Implementation: how great expectations in Washington are dashed in Oakland: or, why it's amazing that federal programs work at all, this being a saga of the Economic Development Administration as told by two sympathetic observers who seek to build morals on a foundation of ruined hopes. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- Public Service Commission. (2008). Basic concepts in monitoring and evaluation. Pretoria: Government Printers.
- Republic of South Africa. (2004). Consolidated programme overview and logical framework. Pretoria: Department of Public Works.
- Republic of South Africa. (1999). The Public Finance Management Act (1). Pretoria: Government printers.
- The Republic of South Africa. (2004). Municipal Management Act. Pretoria: Government printers.
- Republic of South Africa. (2014). EPWP Phase 2 Performance. Pretoria: Department of Public Works. November 2014.
- Republic of South Africa. (2010). Government wide monitoring and evaluation. Pretoria: The Presidency.
- Republic of South Africa. (2011). The National Evaluation Policy Framework. Pretoria: The Presidency.
- Republic of South Africa. (2009). EPWP, Consolidated Programme Overview and Logical Framework Phase I. Version 6. Pretoria: Department of Public Works.
- Rogers, P.J. (2008). Using programme theory to evaluate complicated and complex aspects of Interventions. Evaluation, 14(1), 29-48.
- Rychetnik, L., Frommer, M., Hawe, P. & Shiell, A. (2002). Criteria for evaluating evidence on public health interventions. J Epidemiol Community Health 56, 119-127.
- Shafritz, JM., Russel, E.W & Borick, C.P. (2011). Introducing public administration. USA: Pearson Longman.
- Theron, J., (2014). Non-standard work arrangements in the public sector: The case of South Africa, International Labour Office, Geneva.
- Thornhill, C., Van Dijk, G. & Ille, I. (2015). Public Administration and Management in South Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
- Thurston, W. & Potvin, E. (2003). Evaluability assessment: a tool for incorporating evaluation in social change programmes. Evaluation 9(4), 453–469.
- United Nations. (2015). Thematic evaluation of monitoring and evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals: lessons learned for the post-2015 era. Report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services. United Nations Economic and Social Council. E/AC.51/2015/3.
- Vedung, E. (2010). Four waves of evaluation diffusion. Evaluation, 16(3), 263–277.
-
Impact of factors on fair value accounting: empirical study in Vietnam
Investment Management and Financial Innovations Volume 17, 2020 Issue #3 pp. 10-26 Views: 1417 Downloads: 1278 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯDue to the ongoing process of globalization, enterprises need to provide financial statements in accordance with international practices, in which information about assets and liabilities should be presented at fair values rather than at original prices. Fair value is supported by the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adoption of fair value accounting in Vietnam and the impact of factors on the adoption of fair value. The paper used the analytical framework of previous studies to identify factors affecting the adoption of fair value. Additionally, this study applied quantitative research methods and collected data by sending questionnaires to 127 accountants and directors of listed companies. Particularly, binary logistic regression was conducted to investigate the extent of the impact of each factor on the adoption of fair value. The results have shown that human resources have the strongest and positive impact on the adoption of fair value, and this is followed by the benefits of fair value. Difficulties and markets negatively affect the use of fair value. Furthermore, the control variables that affect the use of fair value are sector, size and length of operation with different levels of impact. The accuracy rate of the overall predictive model is 85.8%. The findings provide guidance of the application of fair value accounting in companies and give recommendations to policy makers in establishing a legal accounting framework in Vietnam.
-
Monitoring and evaluation of municipal planning
Public and Municipal Finance Volume 6, 2017 Issue #4 pp. 15-22 Views: 1331 Downloads: 224 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯThis article explores strategies for monitoring and evaluation of municipal planning with the intention to improve municipal performance on service delivery and development. The apartheid government created improper town and regional planning that depicts inequalities, with less considerations of development planning and service delivery in most cities and townships. In the post-1994 era, government repelled oppressive laws and encouraged mobility of people to cities to seek better lives. This move augmented the demand for basic services in rural and urban areas. Municipalities should be encouraged to apply existing strategies to track their plans and align them with municipal performance targets. Thus, this article argues that there is paucity in the application of monitoring and evaluation of municipal plans and strategies that can mitigate risks against the key performance targets in local government. This article recommends an integrated approach towards evidence-based monitoring and evaluation.
-
Addressing Unemployment challenge through micro and small enterprises (MSEs): Evidence from Nigeria
Oluwatoyin Matthew , Daniel E. Ufua , Romanus Osabohien , Tomike Olawande , Oluwatosin D. Edafe doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.18(2).2020.08Problems and Perspectives in Management Volume 18, 2020 Issue #2 pp. 79-89 Views: 1102 Downloads: 380 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯThis study examined the operational characteristics of MSEs and their contributions towards addressing the national challenge of unemployment. The research was based on Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study employed descriptive analysis and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique in estimating the data obtained. The administration of questionnaire was applied to collect the data. The study found out that micro and small-scale enterprises contributed to economic growth through their operational activities, via the job creation in the economy. Thus, the study recommended that government policies should be put in place to encourage micro and small enterprises, and the provision of infrastructures, credit facilities, tax holidays, training program, amongst others, for MSEs. It was also recommended for funding agencies to consider the trends of practicing MSEs towards addressing critical economic and social issues such as job creation, in granting them funding facilities, in order to facilitate continuous participation in job creation among Nigerian MSEs.
Acknowledgment
The authors appreciate the Management of Covenant University for funding the publishing of this manuscript in this journal.