Experimental evidence, scaling and public policy: a perspective from developing countries

I highlight two important factors particular to less-developed countries that can bias evidence generation and contribute to the ‘voltage drop’ in programme benefits, moving from field research experiments to policy implementation at scale. The first is the non-linear increase in information process...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioural Public Policy 2021-01, Vol.5 (1), p.103-111
Main Author: MANI, ANANDI
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bureaucracy
Bureaucrats
Costs
Decision making
Developing countries
Experiments
Industrialized nations
Information processing
LDCs
Nobel prizes
Poverty
Public officials
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Summary:I highlight two important factors particular to less-developed countries that can bias evidence generation and contribute to the ‘voltage drop’ in programme benefits, moving from field research experiments to policy implementation at scale. The first is the non-linear increase in information processing and coordination costs associated with upscaling in less-developed countries, given limited state capacity and rigid organizational hierarchies. The second is political bias in the choice of programmes considered for rigorous evaluation itself, resulting in distorted evidence and policy choice. These two factors raise considerations that complement the economics-based approach outlined by Al-Ubaydli et al. in the quest for more rigorous, evidence-based policy.
ISSN:2398-063X
2398-0648
DOI:10.1017/bpp.2020.26