Public programs are designed to reach certain goals and benefi ciaries. Methods to understand whether such programs actually work, as well as the level and nature of impacts on intended benefi ciaries, are main themes of this book. Has the Grameen Bank, for example, succeeded in lowering consumption poverty among the rural poor in Bangladesh? Can conditional cash-transfer programs in Mexico and other Latin American countries improve health and schooling outcomes for poor women and children? Does a new road actually raise welfare in a remote area in Tanzania, or is it a “highway to nowhere”? Do community-based programs like the Thailand Village Fund project create long-lasting improvements in employment and income for the poor?