scholarly journals STABILIZATION AND COMMITMENT: FORWARD GUIDANCE IN ECONOMIES WITH RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Hughes Hallett ◽  
Nicola Acocella
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Rational Expectations ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Forward Guidance ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Time Inconsistent

We construct a theory of forward guidance in economic policy making in order to provide a framework for explaining the role and strategic advantages of including forward guidance as an explicit part of policy design. We do this by setting up a general policy problem in which forward guidance plays a role, and then examine the consequences for performance when that guidance is withdrawn. We show that forward guidance provides enhanced controllability and stabilizability—especially where such properties may not otherwise be available. As a by-product, we find that forward guidance limits the scope and incentives for time-inconsistent behavior in an economy whose policy goals are ultimately reachable. It also adds to the credibility of a set of policies.

scholarly journals It’s the economy, stupid! When economics and politics override health policy goals – the case of tax reliefs to build private hospitals in Ireland in the early 2000s

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sara A. Burke ◽  
Ruairi Brugha ◽  
Stephen Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policy ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Private Hospital ◽  
Private Hospitals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Policy Making Process ◽  
Hospital Beds

Objectives: To analyse the policy process that led to changes to the Finance Acts in 2001 and 2002 that gave tax-reliefs to build private hospitals in Ireland. Methods: Qualitative research methods of documentary analysis and in-depth semi-structured interviews with elites, involved in the policy processes, were used. Results: Despite an Irish health strategy commitment in 2001 to increase the numbers of hospital beds, a majority of which were envisaged in the public sector, two small changes to the Finance Act in 2001 and 2002 resulted in much greater growth in private hospital provision. The result of which was a 34% increase in private hospital beds, whilst public hospital beds grew by 3% between 2002 and 2010. Conclusion: The use of tax breaks was a core part of national economic policy that strongly contributed to Ireland’s boom and bust cycle in the 2000s. The application of tax breaks to health was driven by a small number of people from private hospitals who lobbied the Minister for Finance who championed their introduction, despite opposition from his own department, the Minister and the Department of Health.  Increasing the numbers of private beds, instead of investing in the public health system, exacerbates existing inequalities in access to hospital care in Ireland as the majority of the population do not have access to private hospitals. The research provides an in-depth analysis of this specific policy making process in order to better understand health and public policy making processes. The research found a highly politicised and personalised policy making process where economic policy goals overrode health policy goals and tax-reliefs were granted to the health facilities, without any public or political scrutiny or consensus.

scholarly journals Policy Design and Non-Design: Towards a Spectrum of Policy Formulation Types

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Howlett ◽  
Ishani Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Logical Process

Public policies are the result of efforts made by governments to alter aspects of behaviour—both that of their own agents and of society at large—in order to carry out some end or purpose. They are comprised of arrangements of policy goals and policy means matched through some decision-making process. These policy-making efforts can be more, or less, systematic in attempting to match ends and means in a logical fashion or can result from much less systematic processes. “Policy design” implies a knowledge-based process in which the choice of means or mechanisms through which policy goals are given effect follows a logical process of inference from known or learned relationships between means and outcomes. This includes both design in which means are selected in accordance with experience and knowledge and that in which principles and relationships are incorrectly or only partially articulated or understood. Policy decisions can be careful and deliberate in attempting to best resolve a problem or can be highly contingent and driven by situational logics. Decisions stemming from bargaining or opportunism can also be distinguished from those which result from careful analysis and assessment. This article considers both modes and formulates a spectrum of policy formulation types between “design” and “non-design” which helps clarify the nature of each type and the likelihood of each unfolding.

Challenges of prostitution policy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Wagenaar ◽  
Helga Amesberger ◽  
Sietske Altink
Keyword(s):  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Symbolic Politics ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Prostitution Policy ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Academic Policy

All public policy faces general and domain-specific challenges. General challenges are key tasks, such as mobilising support for an agenda, or transforming policy goals into policy design, that need to be adhered to to realize a policy. In addition we distinguish five domain-specific challenges in prostitution. These are: The pervasive stigma and the urge to control and restrict prostitution that follows from that. Prostitution is morality politics, which results in an ideologically charged, emotive debate about prostitution and a tendency toward symbolic politics. Prostitution policy gets mixed up with immigration policy. Precise, reliable data on prostitution are generally unavailable. And, local policy making is essential for understanding the process and outcomes of prostitution policy. Local policy often deviates from, and is more repressive than national policy making. In our analysis we use concepts and theories of the policymaking process as formulated in the academic policy literature. But above all, by putting the domain-specific challenges central in describing and analysing prostitution policy, we consistently reason from the perspective of the elected official and public administrator.

scholarly journals Economic policy making for environmental problems as an interactive learning process

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 308-335
Author(s):  
M. P. De Wit
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Interactive Learning ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Environmental Problems

The foremost limitation of public policy approaches is that the context of the public policy problem is not taken into account. In the case of complex and dynamic environmental problems, such as global climate change, there is a need for a framework for approaching economic policy that takes account of the complexity and changing realities of such problems. The objective of this paper is to present a framework to approach economic policy making in a case of such complex and dynamic environmental problems. The literature on economic and public policy theories, the need for a systematic policy design process and approaches to complexity and dynamics in policy making is framework available to one where the focus is on the best learning process to facilitate economic policy making on complex and dynamic environmental problems. Based on sociological models of experiential learning, a multiple-loop learning framework (MLLF) is presented. This model illustrates the importance of orchestrated science-policy interactions through interactive learning. The opportunities and limitations of this model are discussed with reference to the debate on economic policy for global climate change.

scholarly journals The Participation of Senior Citizens in Policy-Making: Patterning Initiatives in Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Roberto Falanga ◽  
Andreas Cebulla ◽  
Andrea Principi ◽  
Marco Socci
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Participatory Approaches ◽  
Aging Policy ◽  
Older Citizens

Worldwide, active aging policy calls for greater participation of senior citizens in the social, economic, and political realms. Despite emerging evidence of initiatives engaging senior citizens in social activities, little is known about the use of participatory approaches in the design and/or implementation of policies that matter to older citizens. This article identifies initiatives facilitating the civic participation of older people in policy-making in European Union member and associate states, drawing on a review of the literature, consultation of national policy experts, and exemplary case studies. Four main patterns of senior civic participation are identified: adopting consultative or co-decisional participatory approaches in policy design or policy implementation. The four are represented to varying degrees at different geographical levels (national, regional, local), with different actor configurations (appointed, elected/nominated, corporate representation), and with varying degree of institutionalization (temporary/permanent). Case studies illustrate approaches taken to enhance the quality and effectiveness of public services for senior citizens. Future research should strengthen this line of enquiry to cast further light on conditions facilitating the civic participation of senior citizens.

scholarly journals Playing the policy game: a review of the barriers to and enablers of nutrition policy change

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 2643-2653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Cullerton ◽  
Timothy Donnet ◽  
Amanda Lee ◽  
Danielle Gallegos
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Nutrition Policy ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology ◽  
Practical Experiences ◽  
State And Local

AbstractObjectiveTo progress nutrition policy change and develop more effective advocates, it is useful to consider real-world factors and practical experiences of past advocacy efforts to determine the key barriers to and enablers of nutrition policy change. The present review aimed to identify and synthesize the enablers of and barriers to public policy change within the field of nutrition.DesignElectronic databases were searched systematically for studies examining policy making in public health nutrition. An interpretive synthesis was undertaken.SettingInternational, national, state and local government jurisdictions within high-income, democratic countries.ResultsSixty-three studies were selected for inclusion. Numerous themes were identified explaining the barriers to and enablers of policy change, all of which fell under the overarching category of ‘political will’, underpinned by a second major category, ‘public will’. Sub-themes, including pressure from industry, neoliberal ideology, use of emotions and values, and being visible, were prevalent in describing links between public will, political will and policy change.ConclusionsThe frustration around lack of public policy change in nutrition frequently stems from a belief that policy making is a rational process in which evidence is used to assess the relative costs and benefits of options. The findings from the present review confirm that evidence is only one component of influencing policy change. For policy change to occur there needs to be the political will, and often the public will, for the proposed policy problem and solution. The review presents a suite of enablers which can assist health professionals to influence political and public will in future advocacy efforts.

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