Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Policy Analysts (policy + analyst)
Selected AbstractsGeorge J. Stigler (1911,1991): Scholar, Father, Dissertation Advisor, Referee, Textbook Writer and Policy AnalystAMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2002Claire Friedland [source] RELU Special Issue: Editorial ReflectionsJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2006David R. Harvey Abstract This special issue is special in two major dimensions: the papers range intentionally over a much wider spectrum of social and natural science approaches and disciplines than is normal for the Journal of Agricultural Economics; and, the articles relate to ongoing research rather than completed work. These reflections, perhaps peculiar to a practicing applied economist and policy analyst, concentrate on the lessons to be learned and messages to be heard from the RELU programme, both by those engaged on the programme's research portfolio, and by other researchers. [source] Competition and the Incentive to Produce High QualityECONOMICA, Issue 279 2003Rachel E. Kranton Previous literature indicates that, when quality is a choice variable, firms have an incentive to produce high quality to maintain their reputations with consumers. The strategic interaction among firms and competition for market share is not considered. This paper finds that, when firms compete for market share, perfect equilibria in which firms produce high-quality goods need not exist. Competition for customers can eliminate the price premium needed to induce firms to maintain a reputation for high-quality production. In this case, economists and policy analysts should pay greater attention to the interaction among firms and the institutions, such as professional associations, that structure interfirm relations when considering whether firms have an incentive to produce high-quality goods. [source] The role of the European Parliament in forest environment issuesENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 4 2002Nikolaos D. Hasanagas This article deals with the potential influence of European parliamentarism on environmental policy in forested areas. It is addressed as much to policy analysts and parliamentary theorists as to those most directly involved therein, for example international lobbyists and policy-makers. The relative powers of the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission and assorted interest groups (forestry and environmental activists) will be considered through the analysis of documents and expert interviews. The gradual extension of the European Parliament's power (co-operation and co-decision procedures) in combination with the parliamentary functions (control, legislation, election, articulation and communication) will be described where relevant to forest environment policy, in particular to competition, harmonization, internal markets, industry, research, land use, energy and development. The optimal lobbying terrains and prospects of environmental interest groups are also examined and the potential influence of the European Parliament on the implementation of such policy is explored. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Status versus growth: The distributional effects of school accountability policiesJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2010Helen F. Ladd Although the federal No Child Left Behind program judges the effectiveness of schools based on their students' achievement status, many policy analysts argue that schools should be measured, instead, by their students' achievement growth. Using a 10-year student-level panel data set from North Carolina, we examine how school-specific pressure associated with status and growth approaches to school accountability affect student achievement at different points in the prior-year achievement distribution. Achievement gains for students below the proficiency cut point emerge in schools failing either type of accountability standard, with the effects clearer for math than for reading. In contrast to prior research highlighting the possibility of educational triage, we find little or no evidence that failing schools in North Carolina ignore the students far below proficiency under either approach. Importantly, we find that the status, but not the growth, approach reduces the reading achievement of higher performing students. Our analysis suggests that the distributional effects of accountability pressure depend not only on the type of pressure for which schools are held accountable (status or growth), but also the tested subject. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] Assigning priority to environmental policy interventions in a heterogeneous worldJOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2003Paul J. Ferraro Failure to consider costs as well as benefits is common in many policy initiatives and analyses, particularly in the environmental arena. Economists and other policy scientists have demonstrated that integrating both cost and benefit information explicitly into the policy process can be vital to ensuring that scarce funds go as far as they can toward achieving policy objectives. The costs of acquiring and analyzing such information, however, can be substantial. The objective of this paper is to help policy analysts and practitioners identify the conditions under which integrating cost and benefit information is likely to be vital to effective decisionmaking, and the conditions under which failing to use both cost and benefit data would result in little, if any, loss in efficiency. These points are illustrated through a conceptual discussion and an empirical analysis of a conservation initiative in the United States. © 2003 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. [source] The Unequal Burden of Pain: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in PainPAIN MEDICINE, Issue 3 2003Carmen R. Green MD ABSTRACT context. Pain has significant socioeconomic, health, and quality-of-life implications. Racial- and ethnic-based differences in the pain care experience have been described. Racial and ethnic minorities tend to be undertreated for pain when compared with non-Hispanic Whites. objectives. To provide health care providers, researchers, health care policy analysts, government officials, patients, and the general public with pertinent evidence regarding differences in pain perception, assessment, and treatment for racial and ethnic minorities. Evidence is provided for racial- and ethnic-based differences in pain care across different types of pain (i.e., experimental pain, acute postoperative pain, cancer pain, chronic non-malignant pain) and settings (i.e., emergency department). Pertinent literature on patient, health care provider, and health care system factors that contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in pain treatment are provided. evidence. A selective literature review was performed by experts in pain. The experts developed abstracts with relevant citations on racial and ethnic disparities within their specific areas of expertise. Scientific evidence was given precedence over anecdotal experience. The abstracts were compiled for this manuscript. The draft manuscript was made available to the experts for comment and review prior to submission for publication. conclusions. Consistent with the Institute of Medicine's report on health care disparities, racial and ethnic disparities in pain perception, assessment, and treatment were found in all settings (i.e., postoperative, emergency room) and across all types of pain (i.e., acute, cancer, chronic nonmalignant, and experimental). The literature suggests that the sources of pain disparities among racial and ethnic minorities are complex, involving patient (e.g., patient/health care provider communication, attitudes), health care provider (e.g., decision making), and health care system (e.g., access to pain medication) factors. There is a need for improved training for health care providers and educational interventions for patients. A comprehensive pain research agenda is necessary to address pain disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. [source] IMPORTANCE-PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEYSPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2007GREGG G. VAN RYZIN This paper introduces the method of importance-performance analysis of citizen surveys, a useful approach to understanding citizen satisfaction with local government services. Using data from a US national online panel, we directly compare two approaches to importance-performance analysis: one employing an explicitly stated measure of importance, the other using a measure of importance derived from regression analysis. The different results that the two approaches give suggest that local government administrators and policy analysts arrive at distinctly different conclusions depending on which importance measure they use. These differences are illustrated by simulating the change in citizen satisfaction that would result from improvement in the top-rated services according to each measure. Research and policy implications are discussed. [source] Implementation Studies: Time for a Revival?PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2 2004Personal Reflections on 20 Years of Implementation Studies This paper presents a review of three decades of implementation studies and is constructed in the form of a personal reflection. The paper begins with a reflection upon the context within which the book Policy and Action was written, a time when both governments and policy analysts were endeavouring to systematize and improve the public decision-making process and to place such decision-making within a more strategic framework. The review ends with a discussion about how public policy planning has changed in the light of public services reform strategies. It is suggested that as a result of such reforms, interest in the processes of implementation have perhaps been superseded by a focus upon change management and performance targets. It is further argued that this has resulted in the reassertion of normative, top-down processes of policy implementation. The paper raises points that are important ones and indeed are reflected throughout all four papers in the symposium issue. These are: (1) the very real analytical difficulties of understanding the role of bureaucratic discretion and motivation; (2) the problem of evaluating policy outcomes; and (3) the need to also focus upon micro political processes that occur in public services organizations. In conclusion, the paper emphasizes the continued importance of implementation studies and the need for policy analysts to understand what actually happens at policy recipient level. [source] Decentralisation in Africa: goals, dimensions, myths and challengesPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2003Paul Smoke Decentralisation is a complex and often somewhat elusive phenomenon. Many countries around the world have been attempting,for several reasons and with varying degrees of intention and success,to create or strengthen sub-national governments in recent years. Africa is no exception to either the decentralisation trend or the reality of its complexity and diversity. Drawing selectively on the large academic and practitioner literature on decentralisation and the articles in this volume, this article briefly outlines a number of typical prominent goals of decentralisation. It then reviews some key dimensions of decentralisation,fiscal, institutional and political. These are too frequently treated separately by policy analysts and policy makers although they are inherently linked. Next, a few popular myths and misconceptions about decentralisation are explored. Finally, a number of common outstanding challenges for improving decentralisation and local government reform efforts in Africa are considered. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Improving the Quality of Workers' Compensation Health Care Delivery: The Washington State Occupational Health Services ProjectTHE MILBANK QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2001Thomas M. Wickizer Researchers and health policy analysts in Washington State set out to determine the extent to which administrative process changes and delivery system interventions within workers' compensation affect quality and health outcomes for injured workers. This research included a pilot project to study the effects of providing occupationally focused health care through managed care arrangements on health outcomes, worker and employer satisfaction, and medical and disability costs. Based on the results, a new initiative was developed to incorporate several key delivery system components. The Washington State experience in developing a quality improvement initiative may have relevance for health care clinicians, administrators, policymakers, and researchers engaged in similar pursuits within the general medical care arena. [source] | ||||||||||||||||