This research collection illustrates the wide range of methodologies and methods available for the evaluation of public programs. All these methods address the benefits of the programs and most compare the benefits to costs, but the types of benefits and their measures vary greatly across the studies and across the different types of public programs. The key articles presented here explore these different approaches and offer many examples of actual evaluations of public programs across different public policy settings.

John Scott develops, describes and uses primary data about US industrial firms' research and development (R&D) investments to create innovative products and processes that provide goods and services without the by-product of pollution. New knowledge about environmental R&D is provided by original surveys of industry from 1993 and 2001. The R&D and other firm data are juxtaposed with US Census industry data and with US Environmental Protection Agency data about industrial toxic releases. This book presents hypothesis tests that provide evidence supporting the use of public policies described...

New technologies, with their practical contributions, provide social value. The chapters in this volume view this social value from a program evaluation perspective, and the focus of the evaluations is the generation of new technology funded by public sector agencies. Through keen and approachable analysis, the authors provide important background on both methodology and application. Link and Scott have assembled a collection of their seminal works on the social value of new technology. The first paper provides a general, hands-on overview of the theory and practice of program evaluation,...