Why is it interesting to evaluate COVID-19 support measures?

Although the COVID-19 period may feel like it was some time ago, it is still important to evaluate COVID-19 support measures. These measures involve significant amounts of money being allocated. For instance, the government has dedicated 34 billion euros for TOGS/TVL and NOW. Large sums were needed to support businesses through the COVID-19 crisis, prevent job losses, maintain the financial health of companies, and ensure the survival of the childcare sector. It is crucial for the government to work efficiently and effectively to ensure that this money actually contributes to the intended goals. This is what Dialogic investigates.

What makes COVID-19 support or crisis measures different from other measures? How does this impact the evaluation?

COVID-19 support measures differ from regular schemes in several ways. These measures were developed in a very short period to swiftly assist businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated contact-limiting measures. This meant that ways to support businesses and households could not be extensively explored and compared. It was also not feasible to include various exceptions in the COVID-19 support measures. In bureaucratic terms, such schemes are referred to as 'coarse-grained' because they do not account for exceptions or special cases. Regular schemes generally have exceptions, making implementation more complex, costly, and time-consuming. These schemes are known as 'fine-grained.'

Furthermore, during the COVID-19 period, there was a lot of uncertainty about the impact of the crisis on both businesses and society. Consequently, there was also uncertainty about the duration of the COVID-19 support measures. In future crises, this uncertainty could be reduced by incorporating the experiences and insights gained during the COVID-19 period into the development of policies. The evaluations conducted by Dialogic can thus make an important contribution to future crisis measures.

How did you approach the evaluation of COVID-19 support measures?

In our reports, we evaluate how these schemes were established, how they were implemented, to what extent abuse and improper use occurred, and what lessons can be drawn for future crisis measures. We derive our insights through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods tailored to the research questions. When investigating COVID-19 support measures, it was crucial to engage with many users as these schemes affected a diverse group of businesses and had a significant impact on this target group. It was also important to engage with policymakers to understand why they made certain policy choices, such as the necessity for the schemes to be coarse-grained to remain feasible in the short term. Additionally, collecting information from experts about the indirect effects of the support measures was crucial.

What does the overall picture from the 3 evaluations reveal?

In a short period, very efficient and effective schemes can be developed and implemented as long as the various parties (implementers, policymakers, users, and relevant sectors) collaborate intensively at the same (online) table. COVID-19 support measures had to be implemented quickly because many businesses would collapse if they could not generate income for more than 3 weeks. The feasibility of the schemes thus became a critical factor in their design.

In the formulation of regular policies, there is usually extensive discussion on whether the policy is fair, but the issue of whether the policy is feasible has only recently come more into focus. Through these 3 evaluations, we now know that considering feasibility does not compromise the efficiency and effectiveness of policy. However, this raises the question of how greater consideration can be given to feasibility in the formulation of regular policies.

Why is Dialogic adept at evaluating policy measures?

As researchers with knowledge across various policy domains, we can ask the right research questions for an independent study. Additionally, Dialogic has extensive experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods, enabling us to effectively tailor the mix of research methods to the research questions.

We have developed research methods that allow us to easily scale up the number of people from whom we gather information. This was useful in the evaluations of COVID-19 support measures involving numerous and diverse stakeholders. These research methods also aid in combining insights from different stakeholders into a qualitative and independent report.>