Social cost-benefit analysis in Australia and New Zealand

Social cost-benefit analysis in Australia and New Zealand

Author: Leo Dobes

Publisher: ANU Press

Published: 2016-04-28

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1760460206

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All is not well with the evaluation of government programs and projects. Resources available to any society are limited. If governments are to increase the well-being of their citizens, they must be able to select and implement the socially most beneficial projects and policies. But many government agencies lack the expertise to carry out a cost-benefit analysis, or even to commission one. Commercial consultants, on the other hand, often have some analytical expertise, but are not immune from adopting approaches that accommodate the proclivities of their client agencies. In order to increase analytical rigour and methodological consistency, this publication urges the adoption of a ‘belts and braces’ set of protocols for use in project evaluation.


Evidence for Policy and Decision-making

Evidence for Policy and Decision-making

Author: George Argyrous

Publisher: UNSW Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 0868409030

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The need to base policy on evidence has placed pressure on decision-makers to support proposals with well-grounded research and information. However, no practical guide with a focus on public sector policy and decision-making for doing this exists. This edited text fills the gap by providing a practical and comprehensive manual for people working in policy areas. It is aimed at practitioners with little or no experience in research and analysis but who require skills in managing, assessing and critically evaluating evidence use in the public sector. This first part of the book covers a range of broad frameworks within which evidence is used to arrive at decisions. These include evaluation, cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria analysis, economic modelling and forecasting, and scenario planning and futures analysis. The second part of the book then discusses the specific methods used to gather and analyse evidence within these frameworks, including secondary data sources, sample surveys, and qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The emphasis throughout is not on technical knowledge, but critical understanding. George Argyrous is Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and is an Adjunct Faculty member of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government.


Hybrid Public Policy Innovations

Hybrid Public Policy Innovations

Author: Mark Fabian

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-03-12

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 1351245929

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Political discourse in much of the world remains mired in simplistic ideological dichotomies of market fundamentalism for efficiency versus substantial socialism for equity. Contemporary public policy design is far more sophisticated. It blends market, government and community tools to simultaneously achieve both equity and efficiency. Unlike in the twentieth century, this design is increasingly grounded in a deep evidence base derived by way of rigorous empirical techniques. A new paradigm is emerging: hybrid policies. This volume provides a thorough introduction to this technical side of public policy analysis and development. It demonstrates that it is possible to go beyond ideology, and find there some powerful answers to our most pressing problems. An international team of experts, many of whom have experience with the design or implementation of hybrid policies, helps cover the behavioural, institutional and regulatory theories that inform the choice of policy objectives and lead the initial conception of solutions. They explain the reasons why we need evidence-based public policy and the state-of-the-art empirical techniques involved in its development. And they analyse a range of in-depth case studies from industrial relations to health care to illustrate how hybrids can intermingle the strengths of governments, markets and the community to combat the weaknesses of each and arrive at bipartisan outcomes. Hybrid Public Policy Innovations is geared to scholars and practitioners of public policy administration and management who desire to understand the analytical reasons why policies are designed the way they are, and the purpose of evidence-gathering frameworks attached to policies at implementation.


Making Science Pay

Making Science Pay

Author: Julian M. Alston

Publisher: American Enterprise Institute

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 9780844739007

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This volume examines current agricultural R&D policy, evaluating it in the context of the 100-plus-year history of U.S. public-sector agricultural R&D institutions and expenditures.


Research on Transport Economics 1999

Research on Transport Economics 1999

Author: European Conference of Ministers of Transport

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 1999-11-23

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 9264074171

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This Annual Information Bulletin presents a survey of research in hand on the social and economic aspects of transport in over 400 specialised agencies which are mainly European (West and East) but in some cases American, Canadian or Australian.


Research on Transport Economics 1998

Research on Transport Economics 1998

Author: European Conference of Ministers of Transport

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 1998-11-03

Total Pages: 446

ISBN-13: 926406379X

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This annual information bulletin presents a survey of research in hand on the social and economic aspects of transport in over 400 specialised agencies which are mainly European (West and East) but in some cases American, Canadian or Australian.