The area of evaluation methods has seen intensive use of counterfactual impact evaluation for assessment of activities supported in EU programmes during the period 2007-2013. Therefore, the project focused on an application of this method to the assessment of ESF training support.

In its measure 1.1, the Operational Programme Human Resources and Employment (OP HRE) was oriented to business assistance in the field of human resources development. Thousands of Czech firms have been assisted.

The objective of the project was to conduct a rigorous application of counterfactual impact evaluation (CIE) to answer the following questions: What was the actual causal effect/impact of the intervention on projects assisted in OP HRE 1.1 in comparison with the counterfactual situation without the intervention? What was the effect/impact on the competitiveness of companies (e.g., growth in sales and profits), business investments in employee training, staff turnover, business growth expressed as newly created jobs? Are there any significant differences in effect on some groups of supported enterprises? If so, what are they? What is the mechanism of effect of the call on supported company? Why does a particular intervention (not) work?

Conclusions of the project:

The project was not only about implementation of counterfactual analysis, but also about processing this pilot evaluation as a case study for the Czech Republic’s evaluation community. In addition, it helped to identify areas of intervention of EU funds suitable for application of the CIE in the Czech Republic.