CREDI - Center for Development Evaluation and Social Science Research
Mission
Our mission is to strengthen the culture of evidence-based policy making in BiH by providing objective and policy relevant evidence, as well as by actively cooperating with different stakeholders in supporting their use of our research outputs.
Contribution to Open Science
Center for Development Evaluation and Social Science Research (CREDI) is an independent non-profit and non-partisan research institute established in 2016, with a mission of strengthening the culture of evidence-based policy making in BiH and the Western Balkans region. We do it by producing high-quality evaluations of programs and policies, as well as research in social sciences, using state-of-the-art methodological approaches. Our work was used in improving a wide range of projects, programs, policies and organizations. We are also committed to building capacity for evaluation in the country by offering a series of training programs to both evaluators and policymakers. Our research areas cover the most critical topics for evaluating programs and policies in the country and include labor market analysis, migration, education, financial inclusion, social protection issues and local economic development. Our main strength is expertise in quantitative research methods.
CREDI is the research infrastructure for social science research in Bosnia and Herzegovina which recognized the importance of open access and granted it to external users based on the Open access policy. We are hosting the first Data Archive for Social Sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which puts us in a unique position to provide analysis of data relevant for social science research, which are not necessarily available elsewhere. Moreover, we are running a training programs for PhD students from BiH (www.inquire.ba), which we use as a human capacity building tool for our future researchers and thus have a continuous upgrade of our capacities.
CREDI has so far implemented more than 20 research and evaluation projects. In addition, it developed specific tools and resources that are putting it in a position to deliver research at higher quality standards and lower costs. For example, we developed several microsimulation models that allow us to evaluate ex-ante the budgetary and distributional effects of proposed changes in legislation. Currently, we are working on the development of Labor Market Information System (www.inlearn.ba) to enable comprehensive research on labor and education issues in BiH.
CREDI participates in a number of regional and international research networks, which allow us to use external expertise in discussion of specific methodological issues that can be raised during the project implementation. We have developed cooperation with a significant number of research institutions around the world, as well as in BiH with different stakeholders, such as national ministries and international development agencies. CREDI is member of OpenAIRE, partner of CESSDA-ERIC and ESS-ERIC. We are coordinating regional migration network WB-MIGNET, two national networks related to open access and social science research, and are participating in several other regional networks.
Goals and objectives
By introducing the Open Access Research Infrastructure Policy, CREDI aims to allow broader research community in the field of social sciences to use its infrastructure. Principles of open access were already included to different degrees in other policies developed at the level of CREDI departments. This policy expanded it to all resources and services developed under CREDI. The policy, as well as our activities aim to enhance cooperation with our partner universities. It is used for promotion of openness towards members in different networks we are included in, but also to other stakeholders. We aim also to use this policy to advocate for national legislation towards open data access for research purposes.
Contact Info
Amela Kurta
Services
CREDI is a research center for socio-economic research, with a focus on quantitative research and impact evaluations of programs and policies in the fields of labor market analysis, social policy, education and migration. CREDI has unique tools, such as the BiHMOD microsimulation model or the IFLM labour market forecasting model, which put us in a position to deliver the highest quality analysis using methodology adopted worldwide, as well as to produce it is an efficient manner by reducing the time for analysis needed from weeks to minutes by using pre-programmed model. We used the BiHMOD model for simulation of the effects of proposed changes in labor legislations (part-time work, temporary contracts and student employment) on budgets, total employment, as well as on poverty and inequality. We are also authors of the first labour market forecasting model, which allows employment demand and supply forecasts by occupation and sex, based on administrative data from public employment services, tax authorities and educational institutions. CREDI has services, such data collection services, which assure full control over the quality of the output, at the same time reducing the overall costs of the activity by avoiding sub-contracting time and costs and related controlling costs. Our experts have rich experience in conducting large surveys. CREDI applies highest standards in its work, which included all stages of the research from methodology design to data collection to data analysis to reporting to data depositing and long-term preservation in our Data Archive for Social Sciences in Bosnia and Herzegovina. CREDI is a representative of BiH in the lead European research networks (ERICs), as well as a network of international experts, which allow us to mobilize sufficient expert resources needed and to continuously improve our work through knowledge exchange.