Ex post evaluation

Ex post evaluation looks at the realised benefits of a given project and is an important part of understanding the efficiency of public spending. Hence, it is a central part of the Concept research programmes activities. The purpose of the ex post evaluations is to learn and develop knowledge for future projects. Concept began ex post evaluations in 2012. A pilot evaluation of four projects was presented in Concept report no. 30. It was based on OECDs evaluation criteria, consisting of five criteria, in addition to benefit-cost efficiency. A meta-study was conducted in 2017 which looked at 20 of the evaluated projects and is presented in Concept report no. 52. Alongside this study, a set of guidelines was formed in order to secure that the evaluations were conducted similarly and that the criteria were interpreted equally. The guidelines addressees’ central dimensions of the criteria and how an evaluation is expected to answer them. They also mention the kind of documentation that is expected to be retrieved and used as part of the evaluation.

There are two to four evaluations conducted yearly. Some of the evaluations are conducted by Concept and some are advertised and conducted by external actors. The evaluations are publicised as reports, but also summarised and presented on a separate site. The reports and their summaries are written in Norwegian.