Policy Choices Research Articles

Total cost of ownership of heat pumps and policy choice: The case of Great Britain

Total cost of ownership of heat pumps and policy choice: The case of Great Britain

From the Rainforest to the Fjords: examining equity in carbon capture and storage climate policy

ABSTRACT Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is considered by some to be a critical climate change mitigation technology, and a key element in efforts to limit the global temperature increases in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Implementation of CCS in mitigation scenarios assumes that it provides cost-effective emission reductions, and/or can achieve negative emissions when combined with bioenergy. We conduct a comparative case study of Brazil and Norway, two countries that are leading efforts to accelerate the development and deployment of CCS, to assess how these countries justify their CCS policy choices with respect to equity concerns. The findings show that the current design of CCS mitigation technologies can lead to unjust outcomes, and fossil fuel lock-in. Nevertheless, CCS has uses that go beyond fossil fuel infrastructure, which can improve its climate change mitigation potential.

Understanding the Policy Priorities of Republican Women in the US House of Representatives

Abstract We take a deep dive into the sponsorship and cosponsorship activity of Republicans in the US House of Representatives from 1993–2014 to examine how ideology and gender influence the policy priorities of Republican legislators on issues associated with women, as well as on the party-owned issue of tax policy. We expect that Republican women are cross-pressured since assumptions about their policy expertise as women conflict with the policy reputation of the Republican Party. As a result, Republican women’s policy choices are impacted by their ideology in a way that is different from their male counterparts. Moreover, our analysis of which members’ bills move through the legislative process demonstrates that beyond their own policy preferences, women are strategic party actors. Thus, women are only more likely to see action on their women-focused and anti-abortion proposals, the two areas that define the partisan divide over women’s place in society.

The Earnings and Labor Supply of U.S. Physicians

Abstract Is government guiding the invisible hand at the top of the labor market? We use new administrative data to measure physicians’ earnings and estimate the influence of healthcare policies on these earnings, physicians’ labor supply, and allocation of talent. Combining the administrative registry of U.S. physicians with tax data, Medicare billing records, and survey responses, we find that physicians’ annual earnings average $350,000 and comprise 8.6% of national healthcare spending. Business income comprises one-quarter of earnings and is systematically underreported in survey data. Earnings increase steeply early in the career, and there are major differences across specialties, regions, and firm sizes. The geographic pattern of earnings is unusual compared with other workers. We argue that these patterns reflect policy choices to subsidize demand for physician care, amplified by restrictions on physician entry, especially in certain specialties. Health policy has a major impact on the margin: 25% of physician fee revenue driven by Medicare reimbursements accrues to physicians personally. Physicians earn 8% of public money spent on insurance expansion. These policies in turn affect the type and quantity of medical care physicians supply, retirement timing, and the allocation of talent across specialties.

Party ideology and care policy: The decline of institutional care since 1950

This paper studies the role of government partisanship in the transformation of two uniquely old care policy areas: the care of people with chronic and severe mental illness, and of children who cannot be cared for by their parents. While nineteenth-century ‘insane asylums’ and ‘orphanages’ have widely been understood as institutions of social control, they also served a social care function, which during the era of deinstitutionalisation was replaced by alternative forms of care. Studying mental health and child welfare policy decisions in 12 advanced capitalist countries between 1950 and 2015, I show that the types of care policies that replaced large, custodial institutions varied with government partisanship. I argue that partisan policy choices reflected parties’ core policy preferences shaped by trade-offs between their redistributive goals and individualist or familial ideals, and the lasting ideological effects of very old societal cleavages. The study contributes to theoretical debates in comparative politics about the role of partisanship in social policy making and the dimensionality of party competition over time.

Tax or subsidy? The impact assessment of environmental policies on carbon allocation and emissions abatement of prefabricated construction supply chain

The construction sector, as the prime culprit that aggravates greenhouse gas emissions, has initiated transitions in construction methods for emissions abatement. In such a context, prefabricated construction has been widely promoted in developing countries. This paper assesses the effects of three environmental policies: carbon tax, green subsidy, and unit subsidy on carbon allocation and emissions abatement of prefabricated construction supply chain (PCSC) consisting of a prefab manufacturer (PM) and a project developer (PD). In our game model, the PD determines a prefabricated ratio, the ratio of prefabs to the total construction components, and purchases prefabs from the PM for assembly construction, which enables fewer emissions than on-site construction. We find that the carbon tax has a compound pass-through effect in PCSC, which imposes a quasi-subsidy effect on the PD, allowing the PM to achieve a prefab premium and thus inducing more intense double marginalization than that under the green subsidy. The unit subsidy holds a cost-compensating effect, which mitigates double marginalization arising from the spill-over effect of the green subsidy. Nevertheless, both subsidies lead to identical carbon allocation and emissions abatement of PCSC. The carbon tax outperforms subsidy policies in reducing total emissions and emission intensity, and is superior in responsibility-benefit balance in PCSC. Our study offers insights into the government's choice of environmental policies and the sustainable production decisions of PCSC members while, theoretically, contributing to the sustainable supply chain theory by revealing the impacts of environmental policies on the supply chain for transitional green products, such as PCSC.

Adding Nativity, Citizenship, and Immigration Status to Health Monitoring and Survey Data.

Immigration status and related policies have a significant impact on health outcomes. Yet major national health surveys currently provide little or no information about immigration status, rendering subgroups of noncitizens largely invisible. Even measures of citizenship, nativity, country of birth, and years in the United States, which provide critical information about immigration history, are not consistently included in national data sets. The main objections to asking directly about immigration status are that (1) such questions are too stigmatizing, risking lower response rates and inaccurate responses; and (2) answering the questions may expose respondents to possible immigration or criminal consequences. Our analysis shows that these objections are unfounded or can be mitigated. National health surveys have evolved over the past decades to include questions about mental health, substance use, sexual orientation, and gender identity-topics once assumed to be too stigmatizing to ask about, with possible negative legal consequences. We argue that the time has come to obtain more detailed information about immigration status as well as to consistently include the measures of immigration history mentioned so that we can better evaluate the health consequences of immigrant-related policy choices. (Am J Public Health. 2025;115(1):75-82. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307867).

Everything Everywhere All At Once: competition policy and industrial policy choices in an era of structural change

Everything Everywhere All At Once: competition policy and industrial policy choices in an era of structural change

What justifies public engagement in health financing decisions?

The World Bank's report, Open and inclusive: fair processes for financing universal health coverage, represents an important effort to specify the benefits and criteria of fair processes in health financing decisions. Here we argue that the report's justification for increasing public engagement in health financing decisions, one of its most novel contributions, rests on a widely shared but flawed assumption that public engagement will produce more equitable outcomes. Examining evidence from national-level public engagement initiatives cited in the report, we argue that there is no reason to assume that engaged publics will prioritize equity over other relevant values such as the maximization of population health. We conclude that instead of seeing public engagement as a tool for advancing particular values, policy-makers should view it as a neutral way of assessing what the public values and gathering insights that can inform the design of health benefits packages. If policy-makers wish to prioritize equity, they should do so directly through substantive policy choices regarding the design and financing of coverage schemes.

Do Public School Choice Policies Segregate Schools? Dynamic Effects in Michigan

Interdistrict choice has the potential to exacerbate or alleviate between-district segregation—an increasingly pervasive form of U.S. school segregation—by allowing students to attend schools in districts where they do not reside. Prior research concentrates on the effects of charter schooling on segregation within districts and counties. We used longitudinal enrollment and demographic data from Michigan to examine the impacts of both interdistrict and charter school choice on racial and economic segregation within and between districts in a single setting. We estimated these effects by leveraging between-grade differences in choice use within school systems and years. We confirmed findings from previous research that increases in charter school enrollment increase within-district racial and economic segregation. We also found that the effects of interdistrict choice on both within- and between-district segregation vary with the presence of charter schools.

Policy Brief: Higher Education Financing System

Purpose - The objective of this policy brief is to provide policy recommendations to address problems of higher education financing system in Indonesia. Recent news reported that the total amount of interest-based online student loans given to students in various universities in Indonesia reached Rp 450 billion on February 26, 2024. The Chairman of the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) stated that interest-bearing loan products are not in line with Act No. 12/2012 Article 76 of the Higher Education Law which prohibits the provision of interest-bearing loans. Methodology - The methodology used is descriptive approach which includes determining the objectives, conducting the research process including data collection, analyzing the benefits and costs, the basis for policy choices, and recommendations. Result - As a result, this policy brief proposes a recommendation, namely Student Tuition Fee Assistance with a Social Loan Scheme. Furthermore, in the implementation stage, several organizations must be involved, including the government and social lenders. Implication - This Policy Brief highlights the urgent need for policy and regulatory reforms to address the reliance on interest-based student loans, which are in contravention of Indonesia’s Higher Education Law. Rising tuition fees and inadequate repayment schemes limit access for economically disadvantaged students, underscoring the importance of equitable financing models, such as interest-free social loan schemes that leverage Zakat, Infaq, Sadaqah, and Waqf (ZISWAF) funds. By integrating financial technology and Islamic finance principles, these models can improve accessibility and efficiency while promoting social and economic justice. Furthermore, addressing these financing issues is critical to reducing graduate unemployment and supporting national economic growth, Keyword - Higher Education, Student Loan, Social Loan, ZISWAF

Revisiting Kenya’s Diplomatic Complexity: Policy Strategies and the Recognition Conundrum of Israel During Cold War Transformative Shifts (1978-1990).

This study explores Kenya's foreign policy landscape during the Cold War era. It specifically examines the challenges faced in recognizing Israel from 1978 to 1990. By examining the geopolitical shifts of that period, this research offers valuable perspectives on the factors shaping Kenya's position on this important global issue. The study explores the shifts in Kenya's viewpoint towards Israel during President Daniel Arap Moi's tenure by examining the elements and influences that molded Kenya's foreign policy choices rooted in interests and personal drives at the time frame. It raises inquiries about whether Kenya's commitment to peace and security influenced its foreign policy tactics and decisions while also reflecting on how external events and strategic reasoning in regional security landscapes could have influenced any discrepancies in Kenya's approach. The study delves into the exploration of how Kenya developed and implemented its policy towards Israel during that period by analyzing how Kenya harmonized the demands of solidarity groups such as the Non-Aligned Movement with systemic factors in play at the time frame specified. The key inquiry focuses on how Kenya managed the conflicting priorities of solidarity movements such as the Non-Aligned movement while also dealing with geopolitical and systemic influences that shaped its choices regarding recognizing Israel from 1978 to 1990.

Indonesian Foreign Policy for Afghanistan after The Fall of Kabul 2021 from the Constructivism Perspective

The fall of Kabul in 2021 and the return of Taliban to leadership created dilemma for various countries’ foreign policy, including Indonesia. For Indonesia, diplomatic relations with Afghanistan which has been built since their independence must be maintained. On the other side, the way Taliban take over the leadership and various main values of Taliban are contradictory with international values and norms, which makes it difficult to acknowledge the government of Taliban. In facing this dilemma, Indonesia keeps the relationship with Afghanistan even though Indonesia has not acknowledged the government of Taliban. Indonesian foreign policy towards Afghanistan can be seen in the form of educational assistance for the people of Afghanistan, especially higher education access for woman, Using the Constructivism perspective, this research finds out that identity, values, and norms acknowledged by Indonesia as a democratic country with the most Muslim population in the world are sharpening its foreign policy. In addition, the leadership of Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi as the first woman to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs becomes one of the most important factors that affects the choices of Indonesian foreign policy. Retno Marsudi is well known for her priority of the importance of education for woman and the value of global Islamic solidarity.

Educational currency: The divisiveness of school choice policies in Ontario, Canada

School choice policies continue to expand across the globe. Advocates insist that the opportunity to decide where one’s children will learn is more equitable and socially responsive. However, these sentiments are widely disputed. In this study I emphasize that school choice is another venue where families experience uneven amounts of privilege. While there is extensive literature documenting that unequal advantage exists in school markets, little is known about what this advantage looks like, how it is attained, and how it is used in Ontario, Canada. This research unveils the intricacy of educational currency by studying teacher-parents, a subgroup of the population who possess it. Educators in Ontario share how their unique combinations of cultural, social, and economic capital allow them to collect and spend educational currency (EC) as they choose schools for their own children. The data not only reaffirms that certain populations possess unique amounts of EC and defines what EC is; it provides insight into how school choice leads to a more racially, ethnically, and economically segregated system.

The Trade-Off Between Political Trust and Political Participation

This article explores the possibility of a trade-off between citizens’ trust in government and their rates of political participation. Trust and political participation are both of interest in political science, but the relationship between the two remains unclear. Drawing on political trust and political participation literature, the article utilises data from rounds 1–9 of the European Social Survey to investigate whether a trade-off between political trust and political participation can be found. The results suggest that although greater trust in government is variably predictive of either higher or lower rates of political participation, rates of participation reach a peak at a particular level of trust, followed by a decline. This drop-off effect suggests that citizens may become complacent and disengaged as they reach high levels of trust. The trust-participation trade-off illustrates one way in which policy choices may have unexpected consequences which policymakers should consider.

Conscience at the End of Life.

Caring for patients at the end of life can involve issues that are ethically and legally fraught: withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration, pain control that could hasten death, aggressive treatment that is continued when it seems only to be prolonging suffering, patients who request medical assistance in dying, and so forth. Clinicians may find that their deeply held ethical principles conflict with law, institutional policy, or patients' choices. In these situations, they may consider either refusing to participate in procedures that they find morally abhorrent (conscientious refusal) or providing care that they believe to be ethically obligatory despite being contrary to law or policy (conscientious commitment). This paper reviews the ethical issues involved. Each of the usual policies for handling conscientious refusals faces serious challenges. Healthcare providers who refuse to provide medical services should be expected to explain their reasons, make prompt referrals, and bear some of the resulting costs or burdens.

The Political Economy of Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in European Oral Health Policy.

Pressing oral health care challenges pose prioritization dilemmas for governments. This study aimed to identify key determinants of prioritization in oral health policy in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, as part of a series of the DELIVER project. A literature review based on a search of PubMed and Google Scholar articles related to these countries from January 1, 2000, to October 17, 2023, and key informant interviews with policy makers were conducted to identify key trends in oral health policy choices and determinants of priority setting and resource allocation processes. A total of 249 articles were included, and 6 key informants were interviewed. The overarching focus identified was the accessibility of dental care, primarily characterized by incremental and localized programs for vulnerable groups. Supply-side arrangements consisted of adaptations to population needs, including financial incentives for providers and adjusted service delivery models such as task shifting. Several interventions of quality management were found, particularly in Germany. A funnel was produced to illustrate 3 stages driving oral health policy choices. These were political accountability to address population demand, stakeholder influence through negotiations and lobbying, and bureaucratic justification of policy innovations. While findings highlighted political attention on oral health care through public outcry, complex negotiations and limited data formed bottlenecks of prioritization. Prioritization in oral health policy seems to be dominated by fragmented investments in incremental services of delivery rather than synergized reforms such as granular package designs. While some contexts showed political traction for oral health policy, complex negotiations strained by interests of private professionals and challenges of limited evidence result in difficulties in constraining oral health care within public spending targets. This has placed oral health policy in a state of inertia, where insufficient public resources meet the force of content exerted by the private sector. This study can inform policy makers and researchers to understand the various stakeholder roles in maintaining the status quo of oral health policy and the processes creating the bottlenecks preventing progression in improving oral health care systems. This understanding could lead to novel approaches to oral health policy making and the appropriate data acquisition and analysis to aid oral health policy.

Kenneth Arrow's Last Theorem

In Kenneth Arrow's last week of life at age 95, he reported that "I began my research career with an impossibility theorem. If I had time now, my last theorem would be an impossibility theorem about social choice for environmental policy." This paper completes the formalization, proof, and discussion of the theorem that Arrow then described.

The Fall of the First Republic of Armenia in the Context of Relations with the Entente Countries, USA and Russia

The article discusses the issues of the Western orientation of the government of the First Republic with its Entente allies, and significant failures in foreign policy choices. It is emphasised that the leadership of the Republic of Armenia in 1918‒1920. placed excessively unjustified hopes on the Entente countries in resolving issues of recognition of independence and sovereignty and disputed territories. Reliance on the Entente countries during the First Republic (May 1918 ‒ December 1920) did not guarantee the continued existence and security of the Armenian republic. It is noted that the Treaty of Sèvres, signed by the Entente powers (Great Britain, France) and the United States on August 10, 1920, was deceptive and was not recognised by either the Sultan’s government or the Kemalists. In this regard, the article states that, however, not a single European state has expressed a desire to help resolve territorial issues through diplomatic pressure on Turkey or the use of military force. It is also shown that as a result, the RA government ignored the Armenian-Russian agreement signed on August 10 and tried to resolve issues independently, which at the end of 1920 led to complete defeat in the Armenian-Turkish war and capitulation. It is demonstrated that Soviet Russia really assessed the current situation for intervention with the goal of rapid Sovietisation of Armenia, creating an Armenian buffer, instead of the First Republic, creating the Soviet Republic. It is concluded that the orientation of the government and major failures in army construction turned out to be the dominant factors and reasons for the decline of the First Republic of Armenia at the end of 1920. The ineffectiveness of the militarydiplomatic support of the Entente states and the underestimation of the Russian factor are revealed. The RA’s orientation toward its European allies and the United States turned out to be disastrous, since it belatedly became obvious that the Armenian leadership had made a mistake in its calculations and turned out to be short-sighted, since it did not even try to act faster in order to win real and necessary military-political support from Russia. As a result, we can come to the conclusion that after a steep fall at the end of 1920, the First Republic of Armenia, on the basis of the Armenian-Russian agreement signed on December 2, acquired a new historical perspective for further existence in the form of a Soviet socialist republic.

PENDIRIAN RUMAH ADAT SUKU NAIBESI SEBAGAI WUJUD PERSEKUTUAN UMAT LINTAS IMAN DAN DAMPAKNYA TERHADAP TOLERANSI ANTARUMAT BERAGAMA DI DESA KUSA

Culture includes the idea, customs and works of a group of people that are passed down from generation to generation. To imply a cultured person, a place or environment is needed. The environment in question is a traditional house. The establishment of a traditional house is a tradition inherited from the ancestors in society. Suku Naibesi believes that a traditional house is the center of tribal life. The objectives of this study are: to determine the stages of establishing a traditional house, the reasons, meanings, functions, goals and uses of establishing a traditional house, and to determine the relationship between the establishment of a traditional house and the fellowship of interfaith communities and its impact on tolerance between religious communities. The research model used is a descriptive model that explains and predicts the causes and effects of policy choices and obtains data directly related to the culture of the Naibesi Tribe. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach or research based on nature with data sources being community leaders, namely: the Head of the Suku Naibesi, traditional leaders, Muslim and Protestant communities, and communities originating from the feots in the Naibesi Tribe. From the results of the data analysis obtained, the entire Suku Naibesi community believes that the establishment of traditional houses is a form of unity for the entire tribal community.