RESEARCH-BASED KNOWLEDGE FOR POLICY DECISION MAKING: MAXIMIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES OF IMPACT

Abstract

The permanent dissatisfaction about abilities of state legislation together with public administration to use scientific research knowledge for public decision making has underpin. Not inconsiderable body of dissatisfaction comes from the side of policy managers and practitioners with reflection of unperfected quality of research outcomes. However, effectiveness of research-based knowledge utilisation for public decision making is not a self-oriented or spontaneous action. It challenges the research content quality on the one hand and the policy modelling process on the other hand. The goal of this research was to outline the managerial practical implications for the potential use of research-based knowledge with the purpose to improve public policy decision making and to propose the actionable framework for use of research based knowledge. The study design. The investigation was based on the analysis of officially issued scientific reports, which were initiated and funded by the government with the purpose to inform policy decision making. The sample frame consisted of 50 scientific research reports (6780 pages) issued in the period of 2007-2009 from the pull of 180 and lay under responsibility of two ministries: Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Education and Science. The topics of research reports cover health resort research, health improvement, administration burden diminishing, special regulation for researchers’ social security, intellectual property rights, small and medium business development, technology park development, and so on. The key findings. Knowledge for policy decision making is conceptualized during interaction of policy actors, who represent own stakes. However, the policy decision is made before a certain knowledge level is reached and determines the fundamental common decision making knowledge gap, which could be filled by research-based knowledge. The evidence based policy paradigm recognises wide list of barriers for sustainable utilisation of research-based knowledge for policy decision making (governmental political commitments; legislators’ skills to communicate research and low awareness of research, researchers’ distance from political context and managerial needs). Taken in to account knowledge generation environment for policy decision making (policy rounds and actors diversification), paper propose the model for research based knowledge utilisation coping with the obstacles of evidence based policy and facilitate this utilisation via natural relieve of barriers cause. The managerial framework is based on threefold aspects, such as a.) the research content quality including transformation scenarios; b.) the research process interaction with policy making rounds; c.) alignment of policy creation actors with researchers. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.7.5152