Singapore is recognised to be one of the most successful economies in the world given its rapid economic and social transformation. Its success is the result of a judicious blend of markets and government, high-quality governance, and public policies that are coherent, consistent and coordinated.This book showcases the contribution of Economics to Singapore's public policymaking. To illustrate the diverse areas that economic analysis has contributed to, this book comprises three sections that span the economic and non-economic policy domains in Singapore. Section I covers economic policies relating to economic growth, trade, investments, productivity, innovation, industrial development, the enterprise landscape and manpower. Section II highlights socioeconomic and security policies, and covers themes such as income inequality and mobility, families, healthcare costs and crime. In Section III, the focus is on infrastructural policies relating to the environment, housing and land transport.This book commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Singapore Government's Economist Service. As the premier service for economists in the Singapore public sector, the Economist Service plays an integral role in supporting evidence-based policymaking through rigorous economic research and analysis of public policies.
Singapore's rapid ascent from Third World to First since its independence in 1965 has won it acclaim as an 'economic miracle'. Economic success has been accompanied by impressive achievements in social development, as reflected in international rankings of human capital and human development.The city state's achievements are founded on a socio-economic system characterised by low tax rates, flexible labour markets, and individual 'self-reliance', with state support centred on social investment in education and public housing.Entering the 21st century, however, slowing economic growth, an ageing population, global competition, and widening income dispersion have put the Singapore System under strain. This has prompted a significant refresh of social and economic policies over the past 15-20 years.This book aims to bring the reader up to date on Singapore's socio-economic development in the first two decades of the 21st century. It looks back to the shifts in policy thinking that have accompanied structural changes to Singapore's society and economy, taking stock of the policy innovations aimed at sustaining income growth, economic security, and social mobility. It looks around to compare Singapore's approach to those of other countries facing similar challenges, situating Singapore's experience in the wider international discourse on public policy. Finally, it looks ahead to how the Singapore System may evolve in the years to come.
The second edition of the Impact Evaluation in Practice handbook is a comprehensive and accessible introduction to impact evaluation for policy makers and development practitioners. First published in 2011, it has been used widely across the development and academic communities. The book incorporates real-world examples to present practical guidelines for designing and implementing impact evaluations. Readers will gain an understanding of impact evaluations and the best ways to use them to design evidence-based policies and programs. The updated version covers the newest techniques for evaluating programs and includes state-of-the-art implementation advice, as well as an expanded set of examples and case studies that draw on recent development challenges. It also includes new material on research ethics and partnerships to conduct impact evaluation. The handbook is divided into four sections: Part One discusses what to evaluate and why; Part Two presents the main impact evaluation methods; Part Three addresses how to manage impact evaluations; Part Four reviews impact evaluation sampling and data collection. Case studies illustrate different applications of impact evaluations. The book links to complementary instructional material available online, including an applied case as well as questions and answers. The updated second edition will be a valuable resource for the international development community, universities, and policy makers looking to build better evidence around what works in development.
'Toward a Better Future' provides a comprehensive analysis of education development in Singapore since 1965, giving particular attention to the strategic management that has enabled Singapore to transform its education and training system from one similar to that of many Sub-Saharan African countries four decades ago into one of the world's best-performing systems. It is one of a pair of concurrently-published books presenting materials originally developed for a 2006 study tour to Singapore and Vietnam for senior education officials from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Mozambique. The second book, 'An African Exploration of the East Asian Education Experience', presents five country studies, as well as regional, comparative analyses highlighting insights gained during the study tour and putting them in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa. Together, the two books aim to foster knowledge exchange between Sub-Saharan African and East Asian countries on good practices in the design and implementation of education policies and programs. By facilitating the cross-country fertilization of ideas between two regions with relatively limited contact in the past, these books fi ll a clear gap in the current literature on development practice in education.
"Today Singapore ranks sixth in the world in healthcare outcomes well ahead of many developed countries, including the United States. The results are all the more significant as Singapore spends less on healthcare than any other high-income country, both as measured by fraction of the Gross Domestic Product spent on health and by costs per person. Singapore achieves these results at less than one-fourth the cost of healthcare in the United States and about half that of Western European countries. Government leaders, presidents and prime ministers, finance ministers and ministers of health, policymakers in congress and parliament, public health officials responsible for healthcare systems planning, finance and operations, as well as those working on healthcare issues in universities and think-tanks should know how this system works to achieve affordable excellence."--Publisher's website.
“Evidence-Informed Health Policy serves as a foundation for policymaking using an evidence-informed model with emphasis on the fact that the best policy is based on evidence. The second edition helps transform students into healthcare advocates who can work collaboratively throughout the policymaking process, preparing them to engage at any policy level in shaping the future of nursing.” –Keeley Harding, DNP, APRN, CNS, CPNP-AC/PC; and Beverly Hittle, PhD, RN Assistant Professors and Course Faculty Leaders for Combined DNP-PhD Health Policy University of Cincinnati “This book is an essential resource for nurses and healthcare professionals who are engaged or interested in influencing health policy and navigating complex health policy environments.” –Jacalyn Buck, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAONL Clinical Professor Director, DNP Executive Track The Ohio State University College of Nursing “This new edition is a valuable resource for those nurses wanting to learn more about evidence-informed health policy, development of such policies, as well as the importance of nurse participation in their development.” –Jane F. Mahowald, MA, BSN, RN, ANEF Immediate past Executive Director of the Ohio League for Nursing What happens in health policy at local, state, and federal levels directly affects patients, nurses, and nursing practice. Some healthcare professionals, though, are intimidated by the complex and often nonlinear policy process or simply don’t know how to take the first step toward implementing policy change. In the second edition of Evidence-Informed Health Policy, authors Jacqueline M. Loversidge and Joyce Zurmehly demystify health policymaking and equip nurses and other healthcare professionals with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to navigate the first of many steps into health policy. This book translates the EBP language of clinical decision-making into an evidence-informed health policy (EIHP) model—a foundation for integrating evidence into health policymaking and leveraging dialogue with stakeholders. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Extending the Use of Evidence-Based Practice to Health Policymaking Chapter 2: The Use of Evidence: The Changing Landscape in Health Policymaking Chapter 3: Health Policy and Politics Chapter 4: Government Structures and Functions That Drive Process Chapter 5: Policymaking Processes and Models Chapter 6: An Overview of an Evidence-Informed Health Policy Model for Nursing Chapter 7: The Foundation: Steps 0 Through 3 of the EIHP Process Chapter 8: Policy Production: Steps 4 and 5 of the EIHP Process Chapter 9: Follow-Through: Steps 6 and 7 of the EIHP Process Chapter 10: Health Policy on a Global Scale Chapter 11: Evidence-Informed Health Policymaking: Challenges and Strategies Appendix A: Resources Appendix B: Global Examples of Evidence-Informed Policymaking: An Annotated Bibliography
By the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Economics, an essential and paradigm-altering framework for understanding economic development--for both rich and poor--in the twenty-first century. Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most efficient means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world's entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. In the new global economy, where, despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers--perhaps even the majority of people--he concludes, it is still possible to practically and optimistically restain a sense of social accountability. Development as Freedom is essential reading.
Climate change, financial crises, and other issues of global scale no longer concern only the developed world. The binding power of globalization has placed these challenges at the doorstep of almost every country, testing the evolutionary capacity of monolithic governance systems bound by institutional legacy and administrative stagnation. This book locates the concept of adaptive governance, used primarily in environmental management, within the context of economic policy. Introducing flexible economic opportunism, it argues that a particular style of institutional and administrative versatility enables innovative, evidence-based policy development. This book mines institutional economics, public administration, and research theory and practice for complementary elements that can inform an emerging governance paradigm based on flexible economic opportunism. Through an eclectic suite of cases from the developing and developed worlds including Asia and North America, this book reveals how patterns of institutional and administrative change impact the efficacy of public policy. Flexibility may be this century’s most critical dimension of global competitiveness, and systems configured to quickly and comprehensively capture economic opportunities will win the marketplace of development ideas. This book advances that discussion.
This edited book is a comprehensive resource for understanding the history as well as the current status of educational practices in Singapore. It is a one-stop reference guide to education and educational issues/concerns here. There are three sections: Part 1 provides a sectorial overview of how education has been organized in this country such as preschool, special needs, primary and secondary, and adult education divisions. In Part 2, contributors critically delve into issues and policies that are pertinent to understanding education here such as underachievement, leadership, language education, assessment, and meritocracy to question what Part 1 might have taken for granted. Part 3 contains the largest number of contributors because it offers a scholarly examination into specific subject histories. This section stands out because of the comparative rarity of its subject matter (history of Physical Education, Art, Music, Geography Education, etc.) in Singapore.
