While some people feel that GiveWell puts too much emphasis on the measurable and quantifiable, there are others who go further than we do in quantification, and justify their giving (or other) decisions based on fully explicit expected-value formulas. The latter group tends to critique us – or at least disagree with us – based…
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All Cost-effectiveness analysis Posts
Cost-effectiveness estimates: Inside the sausage factory
We’ve long had mixed feelings about cost-effectiveness estimates of charitable programs, i.e., attempts to figure out “how much good is accomplished per dollar donated.” The advantages of these estimates are obvious. If you can calculate that program A can help much more people – with the same funds, and in the same terms – than…