Value for money: A utilization-focused approach to extending the foundation and contribution of economic evaluation

Christina Peterson and Gary Skolits

Evaluation and Program Planning, 2020, vol. 80, issue C

Abstract: Value for Money (VfM) is an evaluative question about the merit, worth, and significance of resource use in social programs. Although VfM is a critical component of evidence-based programming, it is often overlooked or avoided by evaluators and decision-makers. A framework for evaluating VfM across the dimensions of economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and equity has emerged in response to limitations of traditional economic evaluation. This framework for assessing VfM integrates methods for engaging stakeholders in evaluative thinking to increase acceptance and utilization of evaluations that address questions of resource use. In this review, we synthesize literature on the VfM framework and position it within a broader theory of Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE). We then examine mechanisms through which the VfM framework may contribute to increased evaluation use. Finally, we outline avenues for future research on VfM evaluation.

Keywords: Utilization-focused evaluation; Value for money; Evaluation use; Economic evaluation; Rubric (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149718918302192
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:epplan:v:80:y:2020:i:c:s0149718918302192

DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2020.101799

Access Statistics for this article

Evaluation and Program Planning is currently edited by Jonathan A. Morell

More articles in Evaluation and Program Planning from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().