The concept of "effectiveness" has always been a core component of the policy field of development cooperation and served as a major aspiration. However, the concrete interpretation and application of this term has constantly evolved as part of a broader “results agenda”. Specifically in this research project, effectiveness will be analysed as a context-dependent definition, in order to analyse three key areas of development cooperation.

1. The evolution of results-based management: Development organisations adopt results-based management (RBM) as an instrument of (public) administration and as a strategy to record and systematically apply the results of development cooperation. The research project examines how the discussion on RBM has evolved and to what extent the application of RBM varies in different development organisations.
    
2. Quality standards and data for projects and processes: The increasing availability of results information and advancing digitalisation are driving factors in results reporting. The project analyses how data on development results is collected and how the quality and informative value of this data can be improved through quality standards.
    
3. Geopoliticisation of international standards: At the international level, the global debate on effectiveness is geopoliticised to a greater extent than in the past. The project investigates how geopolitical factors influence the reorientation of development policy (goals and definitions), the interlinking of development policy with other policy fields (e.g. interfaces with climate policy) and the cooperation of international actors (e.g. through the broader and more inclusive involvement of social groups) in development policy partnerships.