#5 Beyond Cost-Benefit: Defining Value for Investment with Julian King

In this episode of It Depends, we sit down with internationally recognized evaluator Julian King to explore what it really means to assess value. Moving beyond traditional cost-benefit analysis and social return on investment, Julian introduces his award-winning Value for Investment (VfI) approach - an interdisciplinary framework that combines economic rigor with stakeholder perspectives.

 

Together, they unpack how VfI helps evaluators and commissioners define value propositions, integrate mixed methods, and make evaluative reasoning more transparent. They also touch on rubrics, participatory evaluation, and Julian’s idea of “Cubist evaluation,” which emphasizes multiple perspectives and collective sense-making in practice.

 

Julian covered a lot in this episode, and there's plenty of it freely accessible online! Check out the below resources:

• Julian's home page with free resources and training opportunities: https://www.julianking.co.nz/
• Julian's 'Evaluation and Value for Investment' Substack
• A Guide to Evaluation of Value for Money in UK Public Service written by Julian King and Alex Hurrell
• A specific Substack post by Julian on 'Mixed Reasoning and Cubist Evaluation'
• Jane Davidson's book which changed Julian's approach: Evaluation Methodology Basics: The Nuts and Bolts of Sound Evaluation

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