DOI

Summary
The goal of the paper is to present a methodological framework to asses the results of international development programs, integrating multidimensional outcomes with complexity theory. The integration of these two methodologies allows for the adoption of a mixed approach, combining the causal description of quantitative changes with the causal explanation of those changes in a system perspective. What emerges, in the end, is a methodology capable of adopting rigorous quantitative practices and context-specific qualitative assessment, integrating the perspectives of local stakeholders. This methodology allows to overcome one of the issues often met in the delivery of international development programs: the correct assessment of results. By integrating a mix of top-down and bottom-up approaches, the methodology proposed could be able of providing a valuable description of the effects generated by a program, instead of presenting a “black and white picture” of average treatment effect.

Relevance for Complex Systems Knowledge
Complexity Theory tools are used in this paper to provide new insights on the multiple variables involved in poverty assessment and the evaluation of international development programs. The success of these programs is understood to lay on multidimensional outcomes stemming from complex adaptive systems. For this reason, linear analyses are of no use in assessing the results of international programs. Thus, in order to obtain valuable results, it is important to adopt a mix of bottom-up and top-down approaches, involving also the perspective of local stakeholders, who better understand their own condition.

Point of Strength
- It adopts complexity theory in a very interesting way, as it uses it to establish a new methodology for assessing international programs.
- This study provides some interesting results, as it challenges the traditional analyses of poverty. It suggests that, by involving local communities and stakeholders, it would be important to adopt new dimensions of poverty, one that go beyond the traditional focus on education, health and standards of living.