Public Sector Agency Choice of Policy Instruments Across Governance Systems

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly Cigler
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Instrument Selection ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Selection For

A core responsibility of government is to protect people and property from disasters caused by natural hazards. The wide mix of policy instruments available and their impacts across governance systems to prevent and mitigate such disasters, to prepare and respond when they occur, and to provide for recovery offer a wealth of lessons for understanding policy instrument choice and impacts in a policy arena crucial to ensuring public safety. The array of options spans the entire policy process from problem definition and agenda-setting to policymaking, decision-making, and implementation, as well as evaluation. Regulatory instruments are especially important but individual voluntary behaviors are crucial. Instrument selection for dealing with natural hazards is a relatively understudied but emerging topic in the policy literature overall, which can inform the gamut of classical issues in the study of public policy. Comparative public policy research, an historical perspective, and careful attention to an array of research approaches are especially useful for examining instrument selection for natural hazards policies. This allows for acknowledging the gamut of diverse actors and agencies that span the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, as well as civil society. Policy choices are both domestic and internationalized. Importantly, policy instrument choices need to be examined across multiple levels of governance, both horizontal and vertical, and must not focus solely on the mix of policy instruments but also on actors and institutional structures, settings, and cultures. Research in political science, economics, public policy, and public administration is especially informative regarding public sector agency choice of policy instruments.

scholarly journals Drivers of Policy Instrument Selection for Environmental Management by Local Governments

2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M. Krause ◽  
Christopher V. Hawkins ◽  
Angela Y. S. Park ◽  
Richard C. Feiock
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Instrument Selection ◽  
Selection For

scholarly journals Applying design science in public policy and administration research

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Georges L Romme ◽  
Albert Meijer
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Design Science ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Creative Design ◽  
Public Policy Research ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
Science Framework ◽  
Scientific Validation ◽  
Oriented Research

There is increasing debate about the role that public policy research can play in identifying solutions to complex policy challenges. Most studies focus on describing and explaining how governance systems operate. However, some scholars argue that because current institutions are often not up to the task, researchers need to rethink this ‘bystander’ approach and engage in experimentation and interventions that can help to change and improve governance systems. This paper contributes to this discourse by developing a design science framework that integrates retrospective research (scientific validation) and prospective research (creative design). It illustrates the merits and challenges of doing this through two case studies in the Netherlands and concludes that a design science framework provides a way of integrating traditional validation-oriented research with intervention-oriented design approaches. We argue that working at the interface between them will create new opportunities for these complementary modes of public policy research to achieve impact.

Policy Instruments and Administrative Capacities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Wegrich
Keyword(s):  
Implementation Research ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Theory Building ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Administrative Capacity ◽  
Modes Of Governance

Administrative capacities are required to give effect to policy instruments. While seemingly obvious, policy research has, as yet, not systematically linked these two perspectives. The policy instrument perspective emerged in the context of implementation research and the wider debate about changing modes of governance. Administrative capacities and resources always played a role in this research, but cumulative empirical exploration or theory building has remained underdeveloped. A stronger integration of administrative capacity perspectives into research on policy instruments is essential so as to progress our understanding regarding the choice, design, and operation of policy instruments. A stronger policy orientation in research on administrative capacities can help to address limitations of indicator-based studies of capacity, which currently dominate empirical research on administrative capacities. The design and choice of policy instruments has an effect on administrative capacities: Capacity-reinforcing policies can be distinguished from capacity-undermining ones. A challenge for future research is under which conditions will politicians invest in administrative capacities, an investment that will only yield (uncertain) positive outcomes in the medium term.

scholarly journals The Selection of Policy Instruments: a Network-based Perspective

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Th. A. Bressers ◽  
Laurence J. O'Toole, Jr
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Instrument Selection ◽  
Policy Style ◽  
Recent Theoretical Development ◽  
Choice Of Instruments ◽  
Selection Of

The concepts of policy instruments and policy networks have played important roles in recent theoretical development on public policy, as research in several nations attests. These notions, however, have largely been considered in isolation from each other. Here a simple typology of policy networks is used to help explain the selection of different kinds of instruments by governments. Several instrument characteristics are considered for the expected impact of network features on instrument selection, and a set of propositions is developed that matches degrees of network interconnectedness and cohesion with the choice of different kinds of instruments – such as regulations, subsidies, and covenants. Examples from different national and policy-sectoral contexts are used to indicate the plausibility of the argument. The article suggests that considering network attributes can be useful in understanding governments' choice of instruments and can strengthen extant discussions largely focused on such variables as learning and policy style.

scholarly journals Drawing Lessons When Objectives Differ? Assessing Renewable Energy Policy Transfer from Germany to Morocco

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karoline Steinbacher
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Policy Transfer ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Renewable Energy Policy ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Instrument Selection ◽  
Policy Objectives

Given the tremendous energy challenges Morocco faces, and its potential role as an exporter of green electricity to Europe, the country has been particularly targeted by Germany’s efforts to promote the uptake of renewable energies abroad. This paper explores whether ideas and policies in the field of renewable energy effectively traveled through transfer channels established between Germany and Morocco. In particular, the question of how Morocco’s policy objectives shaped the result of transfer processes is discussed, shedding light on a currently under-researched determinant for policy transfer. Drawing upon forty-five semi-structured interviews with Moroccan, German, and international stakeholders, as well as card-ranking exercises, the article provides first-hand insights into the dynamics and drivers of Morocco’s “energy transition”. Findings presented in the article show that differing policy objectives did not preclude the transfer of ideas between Germany and Morocco, but shaped its outcome with regard to policy instrument selection. While basic policy orientations in favour of renewable energies were facilitated by transferred knowledge, a perceived incompatibility between domestic policy objectives and the policy instruments used in the foreign model led to selective lesson-drawing from the German example. This finding underlines the importance for “senders” who wish to actively promote sustainable energy policies abroad to adapt outreach strategies to the policy objectives of potential followers.

scholarly journals Bringing Emissions Trading Schemes into Mexican Climate Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 33-47
Author(s):  
Alejandra Elizondo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Policy ◽  
Emissions Trading ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Carbon Markets ◽  
Instrument Selection ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
The Us ◽  
Tackle Climate Change

AbstractEmissions trading schemes (ETS) have become popular as a policy instrument to tackle climate change. This chapter analyses the decision to deploy carbon markets and their interaction with other instruments in Mexico’s climate policy. Instrument selection has been thoroughly explored in the regulation and public policy literature (Kern et al. in Res Policy 48, 2019; Capano and Lippi in Policy Sci 50(2):269–293, 2016; Wurzel et al. in German Policy Studies 9:21–48, 2013; Harker et al. in Climate Policy 17(4):485–500, 2017; Baldwin et al. in Understanding regulation, Oxford University Press, 2012; Jordan et al. in Policy instruments in practice. Oxford handbooks online 536–549, 2011), but its application to carbon markets is mainly focused on environments such as Europe, the US and, more recently, China. The decision to adopt an ETS relies not only on specific characteristics of each instrument but also on institutional constraints and messy political considerations. A combination of preferences and institutional factors affect the choice of instruments, and the ultimate decision must be legitimate and instrumental for each context. I analyse the considerations involved in the deployment of the ETS pilot project, looking at its distinctive characteristics and those it shares with other available instruments, as well as the requirements for its implementation.

Tacit Knowledge Management at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Omwoyo Bosire Onyancha ◽  
Gladys Njeri Mungai ◽  
Henry Nyabuto Kemoni
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Intangible Asset ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Public Policy Research ◽  
Observation Methods ◽  
Tacit Knowledge Sharing

Tacit knowledge is seen as difficult to be shared in an organisation owing to its intuitive, versatile and practice-based nature. Consequently, tacit knowledge is not well-understood or valued in most organisations and more so in public institutions. The purpose of the study was to investigate how the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) manages tacit knowledge as an intangible asset and also to recommend a framework or model for the management of tacit knowledge for a competitive advantage and development at the KIPPRA. The study adopted a qualitative research approach, with interviews and observation methods constituting the primary data collection methods. The study targeted 60 employees of KIPPRA consisting of researchers, young professionals, heads of divisions, a knowledge manager and administrative staff. The qualitative data collected were organised, categorised and reported verbatim. Among the key findings were that KIPPRA has the capacity for tacit knowledge sharing, capture, transfer and storage that have not been capitalised on. Further, employees experience challenges such as the identification and understanding of tacit knowledge, access to tacit knowledge sharing platforms, access to expertise with specific tacit knowledge, tacit knowledge hoarding, individualism, and ICT-related challenges in accessing tacit knowledge. Finally, the study recommends the adoption of a proposed framework for managing tacit knowledge at the KIPPRA.

Career Guidance: Living on the Edge of Public Policy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John McCarthy ◽  
Tibor Bors Borbély-Pecze
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Career Guidance ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
National Level ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Education And Employment

Public policy formation and implementation for career guidance provision are complex issues, not least because in most countries career guidance is a peripheral part of legislation for education, employment, and social inclusion. Policy solutions are compromises by nature. Regulations and economic incentives are the main policy instruments for career guidance provision, but there is often incoherence between the intentions of the regulations and the economic incentives provided for policy implementation. The intermediary organizations that serve to implement policy add significant variability to policy effects. International bodies and organizations have shown significant interest in the role of career guidance in education and employment policies through the undertaking of policy reviews, the formulation of recommendations for career guidance, and, in some cases, providing economic incentives to support their implementation. However, there is a dearth of evaluation studies of policy formation and implementation at the national level.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document