Costing Pre-analysis Planning Template - Beta - version-feedback welcome - please contact lizbrown@berkeley.edu

Sep 12, 2026

A costing pre-analysis plan outlines the policy and research questions, along with methods and data required to prospectively plan a costing study that will integrate with a randomized evaluation of a development intervention. It specifies the intervention and implementation location, defines counterfactuals, and identifies which costs and impacts will be measured. The plan describes primary and secondary data sources, provides an overview of the baseline cost model, and details cost analysis methods and comparisons, including baseline and cost-effectiveness components.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Motivation

Costing Study Design

Data

Methods

Empirical Analysis

Research Teams

Costing Pre-analysis Planning Template A template for integrating cost research with impact evaluation Beta version-feedback welcome please contact [lizbrown@berkeley.edu. Accesses](lizbrown@berkeley.edu. Accesses) the read-only overleaf (LaTeX) file [here] . Please make a copy and save this template under a new name for your own use Title of the study∗ Author’s name† June 2, 2025 Abstract A costing pre-analysis plan is a document that outlines the policy and research questions, as well as methods and data needed to prospectively plan a costing study that will integrate with a randomized evaluation of a development intervention. The abstract for this document should succinctly describe what the intervention is and where it will be implemented; specify what the counterfactual(s) is; what costs and impacts will be measured; and the proposed methods for comparing them. It describes the primary and secondary data sources that will be used for the costing. It should overview the baseline cost model and methods of cost analysis that will be used. ∗ Acknowledgements and disclaimers.†Author’s affiliation and e-mail. Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Motivation 3 2.1 Cost research questions ....................................... 3 2.1.1 Primary and secondary cost research questions ...................... 3 3 Intervention Design and Delivery 4 3.1 Primary intervention activities ................................... 4 3.2 Delivery model ............................................ 4 3.3 Participants .............................................. 4 3.4 Evaluation time horizon ....................................... 5 4 Costing Study Design 5 4.1 Key underlying assumptions ..................................... 5 4.2 Operationalizing cost ......................................... 5 4.3 Principles for classifying intervention costs ............................. 5 5 Data 6 5.1 Data collection ............................................ 6 6 Methods 6 6.1 Costing method ............................................ 6 6.2 Cost standardization ......................................... 6 7 Empirical Analysis 7 7.1 Calculating unit cost ......................................... 7 7.2 Total cost ............................................... 7 7.3 Average cost ............................................. 7 7.4 Cost effectiveness ........................................... 7 7.5 Baseline model ............................................ 8 7.6 Scale-up ................................................ 8 7.7 Sensitivity analysis .......................................... 8 8 Research Teams 8 1 Introduction This document presents a functional outline for users to draft a costing pre-analysis plan. The structured outline and prompts enable users to produce a plan that can efficiently integrate with the pre-analysis plan for the impact evaluation or serve as a standalone draft of a costing report that is fit for publication. Once complete, the standalone costing pre-analysis plan may be pre-registered online at the Open Science Framework. CEGA’s Cost Transparency Initiative developed and has now piloted this tool on eight randomized evaluations. A completed costing pre-analysis plan sets the stage for conducting research that is centered around the cost-related research questions. The narrative explains how the cost evaluation will be undertaken, how it fits with the impact evaluation research, and what data is needed to make it operational. The structure facilitates our greater collaboration with the evaluation research team, implementing partners, and donors. Pre-registering the completed costing pre-analysis plan contributes to creating transparent and reproducible cost research. 2 Motivation The motivation section should articulate the purpose of the cost analysis. It succinctly overviews the intervention and the randomized evaluation. It also overviews the costing study, in

FAQs

What is a costing pre-analysis plan designed to do?

It lays out the policy and research questions, along with the methods and data needed to prospectively plan a costing study that can be integrated with a randomized evaluation.

Which elements must the abstract of the plan include?

It should summarize the intervention and where it is implemented, define the counterfactual(s), specify what costs and impacts will be measured, and state the proposed methods for comparing them, including data sources and the baseline cost model overview.

How are costs analyzed in the empirical analysis section?

It includes steps for calculating unit cost, total cost, average cost, cost effectiveness, a baseline model, scale-up, and sensitivity analysis.

Sep 12, 2026

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