Highlights and Recommendations of the Second Virtual Meeting of the CGAP Working Group on Impact Assessment Methodologies, April 14-28, 1998

This paper summarises the virtual meeting's major topical discussions on microfinance impact assessment along the dimensions of credibility, cost effectiveness and usefulness. The authors also address methodological options for impact assessments (IAs). Finally, the paper drescribes 'best practices' for middle-range microenterprise impact assessment studies, recommending that:

• Local technical staff to be trained on evaluation methodologies and issues for capacity building;
• A common set of variables and hypotheses that have demonstrated validity in IAs to be constructed;
• Proxy indicators of variables that are meaningful, but difficult to measure should be developed;
• A 'model' questionnaire for collecting baseline data should be constructed.

[Adapted from author's abstract]