Public policy evaluation methods: A review of conceptual literature

Abstract

The evaluation of public policies plays a fundamental role in modern public management. It consists of examining and measuring the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of public policies, whether at the local, national or international level. This approach answers crucial questions for public decision-making, in particular: do these policies achieve their objectives? Are they implemented efficiently? What is their impact on society and the economy? The usefulness of public policy evaluation is multifaceted. It makes it possible to optimize the use of public resources by identifying areas requiring budgetary adjustments, to improve the effectiveness of existing policies, to strengthen government accountability towards citizens, to guide decision-makers using objective data, to foster innovation and adaptation based on lessons learned, and finally, to maximize social benefits by improving public services and reducing inequalities. To summup, the evaluation of public policies contributes to more effective, transparent and results-oriented governance, for the benefit of citizens and society as a whole.

Among the most popular evaluation methods in national accounting, the input-output model, as well as the social accounting matrix and the computable general equilibrium model. These three statistical methods indeed allow an in-depth study of the possible economic fallout of any economic policy on all of the macro and micro-economic aggregates of the country. However, despite the robustness of these impact evaluation methods, they may present some limitations; therefore, it would be preferable in certain cases to combine their results with other economic analysis methods in order to provide a more complete and nuanced picture of the potential economic effects of the policy in question.

In the first part, we will present an empirical literature review of three quantitative tools for measuring sectoral impact, as well as the limits of each, then, in the second part, we will present some working papers that has been done in terms of sectoral impact analysis both at the level of Morocco and at the level of other countries.

Indeed, it turns out that despite the robustness of these impact evaluation methods, they may present some limitations; therefore, it would be preferable in certain cases to combine their results with other evaluation methods to provide a more complete and nuanced picture of the potential economic effects of the policy we study.

Keywords:  Evaluation of public policies-impact studies-input-output-MCS-MCEG.

Classification JEL: C52

Paper type: Theoretical Research