Unit ASSESSMENT OF POLICIES AND PUBLIC SERVICES

Course
Politics, administration, territory
Study-unit Code
GP003641
Curriculum
Scienze dell'amministrazione
Teachers
  • Giorgio Eduardo Montanari (Codocenza)
Hours
  • 63 ore (Codocenza) - Giorgio Eduardo Montanari
CFU
9
Course Regulation
Coorte 2021
Offered
2022/23
Learning activities
Affine/integrativa
Area
Attività formative affini o integrative
Academic discipline
SECS-S/01
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
Italian. International and Erasmus students are invited to take the course. Readings and other course materials are also available in English; a written
exam is required, as detailed in the course program; it can be taken in English as well. Please contact the lecturer for further details and to schedule an
appointment during the first week of the Autumn semester.
Contents
Introduction to the evaluation and role of statistics. The evaluation of public policies. The concept of counterfactual and statistical tools for its measure. Comparative Evaluation of Public Services. Case study: evaluation of the Italian university system.
Reference texts
The study materials are available on the course website at www.unistudium.unipg.it.
Educational objectives
Aim of the course is to introduce students to the world of evaluation and providing knowledge and skills to set up evaluation assessments, identify the necessary data and the tools for analyzing them, draw conclusions within a critical approach. Applications will cover both policy evaluation and evaluation of organizations that deliver the same type of public services.
Prerequisites
For an easy understanding of the content of the course, it is important to have the notions of statistics normally acquired with a basic statistics course.
Teaching methods
The course is divided into lectures (50 hours) and practical exercises in the computer lab (about 14 hours). The latter deals with case studies to be analyzed and discussed for better assimilation of the proposed concepts and methodologies.
Other information
Attending the course is not mandatory but strongly recommended. Without the laboratory activities, understanding the course contents is at risk.
Learning verification modality
The exam consists of a two-hours written test containing open questions on the theory, and exercises similar to those proposed in laboratory activities, where data have to be analyzed and interpreted in relation to the evaluation problem formulated by the text. The written exam evaluation can be supplemented by an optional interview aimed at verifying the degree of assimilation of the theory. The overall final vote will also take into account the student's engagement in classroom and laboratory activities.
Extended program
Introduction to the evaluation and role of Statistics. The evaluation of public policies. Definition of effects and their indicators. The concept of counterfactual and the statistical tools for its measure. Experimental and observational studies for evaluation. Models and methods of analysis. Comparative Evaluation of Public Utilities. Methods of standardization and construction of efficiency standards. Construction of rankings. Methods for pairwise comparisons. Case study: evaluation of the Italian university system.
Condividi su