Since its establishment, the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) has sought to bridge rigorous research with real-world policy and development practices. As BIGD’s research, policy engagement, and capacity-building work has expanded across and beyond governance, gender, climate, digital inclusion, and academic training, a critical question has emerged: to what extent do BIGD’s research, engagement and capacity-building activities contribute to evidence-informed policy discourse and programmatic decisions?
Researchers: Farah Muneer; Noriya Mahin Chowdhury; James Ward Khakshi
Timeline: 2025- 2026
Status: Ongoing
Contact: Farah Muneer, farah.muneer@bracu.ac.bd
Context
BIGD operates in complex policy and governance environments where change is shaped by multiple actors, institutions, and long-term processes. While BIGD has produced a substantial body of research, policy engagement, academic, and training initiatives including programs such as Young Researchers’ Fellowship (YRF), Research Initiative on Development, Governance, and Economy (RIDGE), etc. the pathways through which this work contributes to real-world decisions are not always visible or linear.
Traditional impact evaluation approaches that rely on attribution or counterfactuals are poorly suited to assessing the impact of a research institution like BIGD. Instead, understanding BIGD’s organisational impact requires examining how evidence is generated, taken up, debated, and used as well as understanding how BIGD’s various initiatives collectively contribute to shaping policy discourse, program design, and research capacity.
For this study, MELA undertakes an organisational impact evaluation of BIGD to understand how BIGD’s research, policy dialogue, communication, and capacity-building initiatives have plausibly contributed to changes in programs, policies, knowledge ecosystems, and decision-making processes in Bangladesh and countries within the Global South. Rather than attributing change to a single actor, the study examines how BIGD’s work has influenced outcomes within complex policy and development systems over time. This evaluation method responds to the need for structured reflection on BIGD’s contribution to governance and development practice, not only to demonstrate impact but to learn how BIGD can strengthen its role as a knowledge and learning institution.
Methodology
The study adopts a theory-based contribution analysis approach to assess BIGD’s organisational impact within complex policy and development systems. Given that BIGD operates alongside multiple actors and influences, and does not implement programs directly, a contribution analysis is used to examine how and why BIGD’s research, engagement, and capacity-building efforts have plausibly contributed to observed changes, rather than attempting to attribute impact to BIGD alone. The evaluation begins with the articulation of a Theory of Change (ToC), alongside nested ToCs for selected clusters and initiatives. These ToCs make explicit the assumptions, pathways, and mechanisms through which BIGD’s work is expected to influence policy, practice, knowledge production, and research capacity. Evidence is then systematically gathered to assess the strength of these contribution pathways, including whether BIGD’s outputs were relevant, timely, used by key actors, and aligned with decision-making processes.
Objectives
The overall objective of this study is to assess the extent to which BIGD contributes to better governance and development practices through evidence-based decision-making grounded in Global South knowledge.
To address this overarching question, the study examines the extent and ways in which BIGD’s research has contributed to programmatic decision, policy discourse, and capacity-building of emerging social science researchers between 2021 and 2025, focusing on:
- the use of BIGD’s research in informing the design, adaptation, or reform of programmes and policies;
- BIGD’s contribution to academic and applied development literature, particularly from a Global South perspective;
- the effectiveness of BIGD’s mentorship and capacity-building initiatives (including YRF, RIDGE, and academic programs) in shaping the trajectories of emerging social science researchers and development practitioners.
Findings and Recommendations
Forthcoming.
