Presentation delivered by Gero Carletto, Lead Economist in the Development Research Group of the World Bank, at side event of IFAD Governing Council 12 February 2013.

1. The Living Standards Measurement Study:
Potential Uses in Impact Evaluation
Gero Carletto
Lead Economist
Development Economics Research Group
The World Bank

2. What is an LSMS?
• 30 plus-year-old global initiative in Development Reserach
Group at the World Bank
• Main goals:
- Gain a better understanding of the impact of policies and
programs on poverty reduction
- Build in-country capacity in the design and implementation of
household surveys
- Support methodological improvements in the measurement of key
indicators
- Champion the dissemination and use of data and analytical
findings

3. What is an LSMS? (cont’d)
• Main features:
- Nationally representative
- Multi-topic (HD, labor, assets, nutrition, food security, …)
- Consumption-based money metric to measure poverty
- Open access
- LSMS-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture
• Working in 7 countries in SSA
• Panels
• Focus on agriculture
• Disaggregated (gender, plot)
• Geo-referenced (hh, plots) for improved link to spatial data
• Use of technology (GPS for land area, CAPI)

4. What are the issues?
• Beneficiary identification
• Sample size
• Timing
• Randomization
- Identification strategy

5. Potential uses
• Oversample in project areas
• Control group based on matching
• Small area estimation (welfare measure)
• Methodology
- Questionnaires
- Data collection protocols
- Validation e.g. poverty predictors, asset index, …
• On-going work in DECPI

6. Some recent examples …
• Malawi Fertilizer Input Subsidy Program
using the Integrated Household Survey
• MCC Water Project in two districts using
Tanzania National Panel Survey

7. Some final thoughts …
• LSMS is one tool in the evaluation toolbox
• Offers many opportunities to inform IFAD’s
theory of change agenda
• In terms of evaluation, synergies if ...
- Plan ahead for best results and team up with
national team at time of project’s
inception/design
- Clearly define “measurable” objectives
- Identify target areas and intended beneficiaries
- Think multiple identification strategies
- Take advantage of expanding collection of
panels