Developing countries face significant structural challenges related to their demographic composition, poverty and inequality, insecurity, political instability, and climate change.
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The paper Brain Drain or Brain Gain? Effects of High-Skilled International Emigration on Origin Countries was released on May 22, 2025, and marks a significant personal achievement, as well as highlighting the global relevance of her research.
Developing countries face significant structural challenges related to their demographic composition, poverty and inequality, insecurity, political instability, and climate change. In response to these challenges, cooperation and development policy actors are increasingly engaging with the research community to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of their interventions. It is crucial that policy decisions, whenever possible, are based on rigorously established evidence or informed by it.
The Research Unit on Impact Evaluation of Development Policies – known in French as la Cellule d’analyse d’impact des politiques de développement – was established in June 2022 at the initiative of the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs to provide advisory services to Luxembourgish Cooperation and its implementing agency, Lux-Development.
Its diverse missions include facilitating collaboration between decision-makers and research teams, conducting research to deepen the understanding of the causes and persistence of poverty, improving the targeting of policy measures, evaluating the impact of development policies and cooperation strategies on targeted beneficiaries and development outcomes, collaborating with research and non-research organisations in Luxembourg and partner countries, and organising training sessions for various stakeholders.
In this context, J-PAL Europe partners in the design and launch of research with J-PAL affiliated researchers on development economics topics that are relevant to Luxembourg’s development cooperation efforts. More information on this collaboration is available on the J-PAL Europe website.
The Research Unit on Impact Evaluation of Development Policies (CAIPD) employs a diverse range of advanced methodologies to assess and guide development policies. This methodological toolbox supports rigorous impact evaluation and policy analysis, enabling evidence-based decision-making across multiple sectors and timeframes.
At the heart of our mission is the commitment to enhancing development cooperation by equipping policymakers with reliable, empirical insights. Our evolving toolkit continuously integrates cutting-edge research methods to tackle urgent global challenges such as poverty, inequality, and climate change.
This structured, data-driven approach ensures our work remains impactful, targeted, and grounded in measurable results.
Recognised as the "gold standard" in impact analysis, RCTs are used to evaluate pilot interventions before potential scaling. By randomly selecting participants for treatment and control groups, RCTs help to accurately measure the causal effect of an intervention, ensuring its relevance and effectiveness before wider implementation.
Quasi-Experimental Methods enable robust policy evaluation without the need for randomisation. By using observational data and statistical techniques, we estimate the causal impact of policies, particularly when RCTs are not feasible. This approach helps refine policy designs and guide decisions on scaling interventions.
Used to assess the vulnerability of regions or countries to external shocks, such as climate change or conflict, this method allows for projections of future impacts. Structural models help predict the effects of development policies on specific regions and sectors, providing essential insights for policy planning and risk management.
Explore key topics driving this project, addressing challenges like digital transformation, health equity, and green economy with innovative solutions.
Our Research Unit employs advanced methodologies to tackle development challenges, ensuring evidence-based policymaking and impactful solutions. Through collaboration with international partners, we aim to foster sustainable development and resilience where it’s needed most.
Complex challenges are addressed through three strategic methodologies, each crafted to deliver thorough insights into development policies.
By integrating these complementary research strategies, we transform data into meaningful, actionable knowledge that can drive positive change.
We carefully and rigorously initiate pilot interventions through Randomised Controlled Trials, systematically measuring intervention impacts to inform precise, evidence-driven implementation strategies.
Our second approach involves sectoral analyses, examining development policies by comprehensive survey administrative data to guide both future policy decisions and evaluations.
The third methodology employs sophisticated structural models that help us understand regional vulnerabilities to climate and economic shifts, enabling more effective policy recommendations.
On July 19, 2023, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Franz Fayot, and Senegal's Minister for the Economy, Planning, and Cooperation, Oulimata Sarr, officially signed the fifth Indicative Cooperation Program (PIC V) between their respective countries. Read more
The PIC V outlines a comprehensive program monitoring and evaluation plan scheduled for execution from 2024 to 2030. LISER, working through the CAIPD, will assume a central role in promoting evidence-based approach to aid management and cultivating the essential expertise required for program impact assessment. To fulfill this mission, the formulation of a detailed work plan is imperative. LISER is optimistic that this pionnering collaboration with development stakeholders under the PIC V-Sénégal initiative will serve as a blueprint for potential replication in other partner nations.
LISER and its 17 partners of the Cahiers de la Grande Région have just presented the 9th Cahier at the 89th edition of the Agricultural, Forestry, and Agri-food Fair of Libramont (Belgium).
Ongoing research examines vocational training pathways and factors shaping engagement among young people in Cabo Verde.
A passionate team of experts collaborates to deliver meaningful research and innovative solutions. Their dedication ensures this project achieves impactful outcomes.
Key contributors: Michal Burzynski, Narcisse Cha’ngom, Rana Cömertpay, Joël Machado, Aline Müller, Mariajose Silva-Vargas, Marc Suhrcke, Aleksandra Szymanska
United in purpose. these departments contribute their expertise to drive research and strategies that create tangible societal change.
