What is LIEPP?

A multidisciplinary research centre specialised in public policy evaluation

The Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Evaluation of Public Policies (LIEPP) is a research platform at Sciences Po funded under the "Investissements d'avenir" programme of the French National Research Agency. Created in 2011, this laboratory is being redeployed since 2020 in partnership with the Université Paris Cité (UPC). Its aim is to develop the evaluation of public policies through an interdisciplinary scientific approach.

The research carried out at LIEPP analyses the functioning and effects of numerous public policies such as educational policies, environmental policies, migration policies, health policies, and social and socio-fiscal policies. They address, in a transversal way, the public policy dimensions of major societal issues, such as environmental risks, inequalities, discrimination, the crisis of expertise and democracy.

LIEPP is based on an innovative approach to evaluative research: articulating quantitative, qualitative and comparative methods; confronting disciplinary views on the evaluated policies; and promoting the cross-fertilization of methodological and theoretical knowledge from different disciplines, with those from the international field of evaluation.

Through its activities, LIEPP works to better anchor the evaluation approach in academic social science research. But it also works in conjunction with the experimental sciences, particularly in the context of collaboration between Université Paris Cité and Sciences Po, in order to better connect this knowledge to its consequences for public action. Finally, in the spheres of public action, it contributes to the public debate and to reflections on evaluation involving other actors (administrative, parliamentary, associative, etc.), with a view to promoting the evaluation process and improving its quality.

Thematically, LIEPP's activities are mainly structured around six main research areas

LIEPP raises awareness among future public policy makers in France about the issues and methods of policy evaluation by offering training in evaluation methods through courses, conferences and professional training.

The laboratory contributes to the public debate and reflections on evaluation involving other actors (administrative, parliamentary, associations, etc.), with a view to promoting the evaluation process and improving its quality. LIEPP has a network of non-academic partners with public institutions responsible for evaluations and public actors who request and use evaluations. These collaborations and partnerships are developed in compliance with a charter of ethics, which guarantees the independence and neutrality of the research carried out within the laboratory. Finally, LIEPP has its own collection of publications, in open access, and within which, the series of policy briefs aims to reach an audience beyond the academic world.

All the projects carried out at LIEPP are supported by the IdEx Université Paris Cité (ANR-18-IDEX-0001).

Brochure of LIEPP