Policy Library
Policy evidence from official statistics, legislat…
How can parliaments make evidence-based lawmaking routine?. Lay out the governance loop from regulatory impact assessment and government-provided evidence to committee scrutiny, consultation transparency, and post-legislative review. Use the Western Balkans findings as the institutional case and connect them to the broader OECD lesson on fit-for-purpose capacity under complexity.
Can parliaments make evidence-based lawmaking routine, not exceptional? OECD says yes, but only if the whole loop works: evidence in drafting, timely access for scrutiny, and follow-up after laws pass[[cite:1]]. In the Western Balkans, that loop is often broken. Not all preparation evidence, includi...
ViewFive tests for whether government evaluation systems are usable. Create five cards covering institutional mandates, evaluation quality, impact on decisions, data access, and skills for evidence use. Include the 79 percent central evaluation guidelines finding as one concrete anchor where appropriate.
Evaluation systems are useful but uneven across government. Clear institutional mandates are needed so evaluations are conducted and used systematically across government. On quality, the OECD says 79% have adopted central evaluation guidelines, but that passage does not prove those guidelines speci...
ViewWhat should analysts watch in subnational fiscal outlooks for 2025 to 2027?. Synthesize the OECD outlook evidence on deficits, revenue growth, interest costs, debt service, and debt portfolio monitoring. Organize the report around indicators to track, why each matters, and what policy options or surveillance questions follow.
What analysts should watch in subnational fiscal outlooks for 2025 to 2027 The OECD outlooks point to a common story across 2025 to 2027: subnational government balances have already moved into deficit, revenue growth is slowing, and higher interest costs are continuing to pressure budgets.[[cite:1]...
ViewWhen should governments use randomized trials in policy design?. Build a scenario-based knowledge check on randomized trials, counterfactuals, quasi-experimental methods, cost-effectiveness, feasibility, ethics, data access, and skills. Keep the emphasis on choosing the right evaluation method rather than promoting trials as universally superior.
Q1. A ministry wants to know which of two housing support models is most cost-effective for improving the same outcome. What is the best evaluation choice? - Run a randomized trial only and ignore costs - Use an economic evaluation that combines a robust impact estimate with programme costs - Choose...
ViewThe hidden side effects of intergovernmental grants. Summarize the main design risks: fly-paper effects, crowding-out of own taxes, procyclicality, accountability problems, and overloading a single grant instrument. Close with the practical lesson that grant design should match objectives rather than pursue every goal at once.
Intergovernmental grants can do real good, but the OECD warns they also carry hidden side effects. One common risk is the fly paper effect, where recipients increase spending by more than they would after an equal rise in local income. Grants can also crowd out own source taxes, because local govern...
ViewWhat stops evidence from shaping public policy?. Synthesize the research supply and policy demand gap, including motivated reasoning and the need for capability, opportunity, and motivation across levels of government. Present a practical diagnostic for public-sector teams to identify whether evidence use is blocked by skills, systems, incentives, or decision culture.
Why evidence fails to shape policy The OECD report argues that the core problem is not a shortage of research: policy-relevant knowledge is often abundant, but it is still difficult to connect that supply to what policy-makers actually need, so the report emphasizes strengthening the demand side for...
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