Policy Library
Policy evidence from official statistics, legislat…
What 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]...
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...
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...
ViewLearning or accountability: what should policy evaluation prioritize?. Break down the recurring debate over whether evaluation should mainly support learning or accountability. Show why the practical answer is usually a balanced design that protects independence while keeping findings usable for improvement.
Policy evaluation keeps running into the same fight: should it mainly prove performance for accountability, or help people learn and improve policy? WHO and OECD say that is a false choice; the goal is both[[cite:1]][[cite:2]]. WHO says evaluation should be conducted as systematically and impartiall...
ViewFive data standards that shape policy evidence. Create five cards that show how apparently technical data choices determine what policy questions can be answered. Each card should pair one data infrastructure concept with its practical consequence for researchers or decision makers.
Representative sampling turns displacement data into population evidence, not just project monitoring. Core EGRISS identification questions make refugees and IDPs classifiable and comparable across countries. Rich questionnaire metadata lets analysts map evidence gaps by theme, such as labor, financ...
ViewHow should governments build evaluation into the policy cycle?. Synthesize the recurring design principles for evaluation systems: ex ante planning, ex post review, proportional methods, stakeholder engagement, data governance, central support, and decision links. Include a practical checklist for analysts distinguishing a credible evaluation system from a compliance exercise.
Embedding evaluation throughout the policy cycle The WHO and OECD sources converge on a simple test: evaluation should be built in from the start, carried through implementation, and then used again in later decisions, rather than treated as a one-off compliance product.[[cite:1]][[cite:2]] - Plan e...
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