Policy Analysis Framework Research Articles

Helping Health Care Providers and Clinical Scientists Understand Apparently Irrational Policy Decisions.

Health care providers (HCP) and clinical scientists (CS) are generally most comfortable using evidence-based rational decision-making models. They become very frustrated when policymakers make decisions that, on the surface, seem irrational and unreasonable. However, such decisions usually make sense when analysed properly. The goal of this paper to provide a basic theoretical understanding of major policy models, to illustrate which models are most prevalent in publicly funded health care systems, and to propose a policy analysis framework to better understand the elements that drive policy decision-making. The proposed policy framework will also assist HCP and CS achieve greater success with their own proposals.

Literature Review and Policy Analysis of Carbon Tax

This paper is based on the carbon tax policy as the main research content with the literature review of the previous studies and the new research methods. The paper hopes to be able to out of the shackles of the past, and study the carbon tax policy to fill the gaps in research from the perspective of policy analysis. In this study, we need to put forward a carbon tax policy and sustainable development analysis framework. This framework mainly consists of three parts: one is the analysis of China's carbon tax policy choice model, namely the influence factors of China's carbon tax policy; another one is the influence model of China's carbon tax policy on economic and social influence and effect; the last one is the standard model of China's carbon tax policy which is how to do in order to achieve the goal of China's carbon tax policy and sustainable development.

Analysis of New Energy Vehicles Industry Policy in China's Cities from the Perspective of Policy instruments

Abstract This paper selects five China's cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan, respectively as research objects, where demonstration project of new energy vehicles are progressing fast. Meanwhile, framework for policy analysis of the industrial innovative chain and “demand - supply” policy is established. On this basis, content analysis is applied to study 95 new energy vehicles policies systematically during recent five-year data. In addition, this paper research the characteristics of new energy vehicles industry policy using policy instruments via comparing the differences among cities, furthermore, revise and improve the policy Formulation.

Evolution of policies on human resources for health: opportunities and constraints in four post-conflict and post-crisis settings

BackgroundFew studies look at policy making in the health sector in the aftermath of a conflict or crisis and even fewer specifically focus on Human Resources for Health, which is a critical domain for health sector performance. The main objective of the article is to shed light on the patterns and drivers of post-conflict policy-making. In particular, we explore whether the post -conflict period offers increased chances for the opening of ‘windows for opportunity’ for change and reform and the potential to reset health systems.MethodsThis article uses a comparative policy analysis framework. It is based on qualitative data, collected using three main tools - stakeholder mapping, key informant interviews and document reviews - in Uganda, Sierra Leone, Cambodia and Zimbabwe.ResultsWe found that HRH challenges were widely shared across the four cases in the post-conflict period but that the policy trajectories were different – driven by the nature of the conflicts but also the wider context. Our findings suggest that there is no formula for whether or when a ‘window of opportunity’ will arise which allows health systems to be reset. Problems are well understood in all four cases but core issues – such as adequate pay, effective distribution and HRH management – are to a greater or lesser degree unresolved. These problems are not confined to post-conflict settings, but underlying challenges to addressing them – including fiscal space, political consensus, willingness to pursue public objectives over private, and personal and institutional capacity to manage technical solutions – are liable to be even more acute in these settings. The role of the MoH emerged as weaker than expected, while the shift from donor dependence was clearly not linear and can take a considerable time.ConclusionsWindows of opportunity for change and reform can occur but are by no means guaranteed by a crisis – rather they depend on a constellation of leadership, financing, and capacity. Recognition of urgency is certainly a facilitator but not sufficient alone. Post-conflict environments face particularly severe challenges to evidence-based policy making and policy implementation, which also constrain their ability to effectively use the windows which are presented.

DYNAMIC BALANCE SHEET MODEL WITH LIQUIDITY RISK

Theoretically optimal responses of banks to various liquidity and solvency shocks are modeled. The proposed framework is based on a risk-adjusted return portfolio choice in multiple periods subject to the default risk related either to liquidity or solvency problems. Performance of the model and sensitivity of optimal balance sheet structures to some key parameters of the model are illustrated in a specific calibrated setup. The results of the simulations shed light on the effectiveness of the liquidity and solvency regulation. The flexible implementation of the model and its semi-analytical solvability allows for various easy applications of the framework for the macro-prudential policy analysis.

How the global and national levels interrelate in climate policymaking: Foreign Policy Analysis and the case of Carbon Capture Storage in Norway's foreign policy

States struggle to develop adequate climate change mitigation policies, especially when national energy interests conflict with collective environmental concerns. It is therefore crucial to understand how viable solutions may find political support on these terms. As one such case, this paper examines Norway's explicit foreign policy to promote Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) as a mitigation measure. I suggest that a Foreign Policy Analysis framework with a norm-centered constructivist focus allows for new insights into how climate policies function as balancing strategies between external normative pressures and important domestic concerns. It reveals how Norway's CCS policy represents an extraordinary effort to bridge seemingly contradictory agendas. The Norwegian CCS case highlights how a state may engage in innovative foreign political engineering to promote solutions to its international climate commitments on terms that fit national energy needs. It shows that climate political success may depend on successfully linking the international and domestic levels by simultaneously appealing to established norms within each system.

A transnational feminist policy analysis of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act

A transnational feminist policy analysis of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act: Noyori‐Corbett C., Moxley D.P. A transnational feminist policy analysis of the Trafficking Victims Protection ActAlthough originally the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) sought to prosecute traffickers, protect victims, and prevent trafficking, the most essential aim of the act involving prevention, especially in victims’ countries of origin, has not been dominant in combating trafficking. The authors used a transnational feminist framework of policy analysis to reveal the TVPA's limitations in addressing the diminished status of poor women in the developing world. Using five key questions emanating from transnational feminism, the authors illuminate the extent to which the act is unresponsive to the economic realities that make women in developing countries vulnerable to human trafficking. Based on their analysis, the authors offer considerations for the future re‐authorization of the Act, emphasizing a shift from a paradigm involving the criminalization of victims to one embodying prevention.

Affordable Health Care

Affordable health care ought to be ubiquitous and responsive to changes in consumer demand. Providing affordable health care by reducing out-of-pocket costs (OOPC), and encouraging prevention, maintenance, and promotion of health are essential elements of promoting the health of nation. However, what stands in the way is the daunting complexity of health care system that it is supposed to serve patients with various socioeconomic status (SES). Health care products and services are complex and often complementary (not substitute) in nature and can only be valued by the patient’s ‘‘experience’’ and/or by the ‘‘credence’’ by which they are offered. In other words, the health care market deviates from the competitive norm. Uncertainties with the timing and the nature of health care needs have led to an all-pervasive and thriving health insurance industry, entrenched regulators in each state and the federal level, and evasive providers who possess complicated incentive structures that are yet to be fully understood by scholars and/or policy makers. The outcome is an evolving spectrum of opaque prices for the complex and complementary health care products and services. Thus, nationwide experiments, strategic inputs, and academic investigations into the taming, treating, and curing an obese health care industry have become the urgent preoccupation of the government (e.g., ACA 2010), strategists (e.g., Porter and Teisberg 2006), and scholars (e.g., papers in this issue). While no specific solution is in sight, the breadth of ideas, scholarship, and evolving experiments are encouraging. In the United States, the health care spending is projected to reach almost 20 % of GDP by 2024, indicating a growth of an almost 6 % per year. While, in recent years the growth rate in health care costs has been reduced, per capita spending on health care was $9,523 in 2014. In comparison, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany are spending around 8–10 % of their GDP on the health care. Rising health care costs hinders access to affordable health care. Innovative solutions require an in-depth understanding of the underlying problems. This is not possible without evidence-based supported theories that assist scholars to properly frame the underlying complex issues. Theories such as the ‘‘disease cost’’ theory of Baumol and Bowen (1966) that relates low productivity in health sector to rising costs are helpful, but lack reference to institutions, legacies, and existing complex incentive structures in a heavily regulated health care industry. On the other hand, theory-rich solutions (e.g., Mokhtari et al. 2015) are yet to be put to the test by evidence teased from nationalor international-wide databases. Understanding institutions and their legacies, which underpin the current framework for managerial input and policy analysis, is the key in gaining insight into the United States health care

Welfare, Liberty, and Security for All? U.S. Sex Education Policy and the 1996 Title V Section510 of the Social Security Act.

When adolescents delay (meaning they wait until after middle school) engaging in sexual intercourse, they use condoms at higher rates and have fewer sexual partners than those who have sex earlier, thus resulting in a lower risk for unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. The 1996 Section510 of Title V of the Social Security Act (often referred to as A-H) is a policy that promotes abstinence-only-until-marriage education (AOE) within public schools. Using Stone's (2012) policy analysis framework, this article explores how A-H limits welfare, liberty, and security among adolescents due to the poor empirical outcomes of AOE policy. We recommend incorporating theory-informed comprehensive sex education in addition to theory-informed abstinence education that utilizes Fishbein and Ajzen's (2010) reasoned action model within schools in order to begin to address adolescent welfare, liberty, and security.

A mashup of policy tools and CDA as a framework for educational policy inquiry

ABSTRACTThis article uses an analytic approach that combines a classic educational policy framework with critical discourse analysis (CDA) to problematize power and meaning as expressed through educational legislation in the United States. This examination shows how state-level school desegregation policy documents construct particular understandings of how school districts should rectify contemporary problems of racial and ethnic inequalities that are rooted in historical discriminatory practices. Using an analytic perspective based on policy tools, and a conceptualization of CDA as an element of sociocultural research, I examine statutes designed to address school segregation and promote racial and ethnic integration in the state of Minnesota. In order for policies that shape social equity to succeed, they must address the social contexts in which inequalities have been constructed. Combining CDA approaches with traditional policy analysis frameworks offers one way to make the workings of political ideology visible in educational policy.

Implementing Strengths-Based Teaching Strategies in a Policy Practice Course

ABSTRACTA host of frameworks for policy analysis are available when teaching policy practice to social work students. Masters of Social Work (MSW) students typically have much apprehension about policy advocacy and practice. Applying the strength-based and empowerment approach with students when teaching policy practice may help with this trepidation. It is important to tap into and highlight students’ existing skill sets and help them understand that they already have what it takes to inspire social action. From experience teaching policy practice to hundreds of social work student, this paper highlights some innovative teaching strategies, identifies lessons learned, and offers recommendations for instructors.

Uncommon commonalities: Cosmopolitan ethics as a framework for music education policy analysis

ABSTRACTContemporary American education policy rhetoric is problematic because its authors’ assertions, particularly those about the goals of education, frequently conflict with their implied moral and/or ethical commitments. This philosophical policy analysis uses Appiah's cosmopolitan principles to examine the ethical implications of current education and music education policy discourse and practice. While education policy rhetoric promoting the fulfillment of basic human needs through employment aligns with one aspect of the cosmopolitan principle of universal concern, policy makers’ assertions about unbridled economic competition contradicts cosmopolitans’ concern for all individuals. Contemporary education and music education policies that enable teachers to have freedom in selecting content and instructional practices reinforce the cosmopolitan principle of respect for legitimate difference, but discourse and action emphasizing standardization, including standardized outcomes, conflicts with the cosmopolitanism. Four recommendations are offered: use cosmopolitan ethics as a means of framing agreement or dissatisfaction with contemporary education policies; implement parts of the National Core Music Standards in ways that promote standards without standardization; advocate for the aspects of the Opportunity-To-Learn Standards for Music Instruction; consider how music educators’ day-to-day practices interface with the cosmopolitan ethics.

Healthy and Sustainable Diets: The Development and Application of a Policy Analysis Framework

There is a need to reorient food systems to ensure benefits for human health and nutrition, as well as environmental sustainability. In order for nutrition, agriculture and environmental policies to support healthy and sustainable diets, major shifts in the production and consumption of foods would need to occur, which could impact bottom line economics as well as ethical, social and cultural norms. Thus, the objectives of this study were to: 1) develop a policy analysis framework for examining the components of a healthy and sustainable diet and 2) apply its use to three relevant national polices in Nepal: nutrition (Multisectoral Nutrition Plan 2013–2017), agriculture (Agricultural Development Strategy 2015–2035) and biodiversity (Biodiversity Strategy 2014–2020). Nepal was selected as a case study for the application of the framework given its high rates of malnutrition coupled with its increasing need for adaptation and improved resilience in the face of climate change and immediate natural disasters. We developed a framework based on existing literature that consisted of five main domains of a healthy and sustainable diet: 1) nutrition and health; 2) agriculture and food security; 3) environment and ecosystems; 4) markets, trade and value chains for economic growth; and 5) sociocultural and political. Within each of these domains, 53 constructs representing the key components of a healthy and sustainable diet were identified and subsequently examined in the Nepalese policies. In addition, we examined the overall strength of the policies using an adapted health policy analysis tool developed by Cheung et al. (2010) to appraise the extent to which policy statements align with intended outcomes. Policies were coded based on the components of the framework using NVivo (version 10) by two independent‐researchers (SD and AP) and subsequently compared to ensure consistency. The health policy analysis tool was then used to examine the policies’ overall quality. Nepal's agriculture policy was the most comprehensive in terms of covering the components of a healthy and sustainable diet. It covered 89% (47/53) of the components as compared to 60% (32/53) in the biodiversity and 68% (36/53) in the nutrition policies. In terms of the overall quality of the policies, although all three policies identified clear goals there was less clarity in terms of their evaluation plans as well as whether they have sufficient capacity (both human and financial) for implementation. Although, Nepal's agriculture policy is comprehensive and has the potential to deliver on supporting healthy and sustainable diets, its impact (as well as the impact of the other two policies) will be dependent on the degree to which it is implemented as planned. Future research will build on this research by applying the framework to other country contexts worldwide. It is hoped that this methodology can be used to assess the policy gaps related to healthy and sustainable diets in specific settings with the view to inform future policies and programs and the international dialogue around the Sustainable Development Goals.Support or Funding InformationNone.

Barriers and Facilitators to Scaling Up the Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment for Treating Obstetric Hemorrhage: A Qualitative Study.

BackgroundObstetric hemorrhage (OH), which includes hemorrhage from multiple etiologies during pregnancy, childbirth, or postpartum, is the leading cause of maternal mortality and accounts for one-quarter of global maternal deaths. The Non-pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment (NASG) is a first-aid device for obstetric hemorrhage that can be applied for post-partum/post miscarriage and for ectopic pregnancies to buy time for a woman to reach a health care facility for definitive treatment. Despite successful field trials, and endorsement by safe motherhood organizations and the World Health Organization (WHO), scale-up has been slow in some countries. This qualitative study explores contextual factors affecting uptake.MethodsFrom March 2013 to April 2013, we conducted 13 key informant interviews across four countries with a large burden of maternal mortality that had achieved varying success in scaling up the NASG: Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. These key informants were health providers or program specialists working with the NASG. We applied a health policy analysis framework to organize the results. The framework has five domains: attributes of the intervention, attributes of the implementers, delivery strategy, attributes of the adopting community, the socio-political context, and the research context.ResultsThe interviews from our study found that relevant facilitators for scale-up are the simplicity of the device, local and international champions, well-developed training sessions, recommendations by WHO and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, and dissemination of NASG clinical trial results. Barriers to scaling up the NASG included limited health infrastructure, relatively high upfront cost of the NASG, initial resistance by providers and policy makers, lack of in-country champions or policy makers advocating for NASG implementation, inadequate return and exchange programs, and lack of political will.ConclusionsThere was a continuum of uptake ranging in both speed and scale. Ethiopia while not the first country to use the NASG has the most rapid scale-up, followed by Nigeria, then India, and finally Zimbabwe. Increasing the coverage of the NASG will require collaboration with local NASG champions, greater NASG awareness among clinicians and policymakers, as well as stronger political will and advocacy.

Should Canada Adopt One Official Measure of Poverty?

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not Canada should adopt one measure of poverty. Currently, some examples of poverty measures found in Canada include LICO (low income cut‐offs), MBM (market basket measure) and LIM (low income measure). A policy analysis framework will be taken in order to first define our challenge at hand and to propose recommendations to address our problem. Throughout this exercise, a global viewpoint will also be taken to assess the different measures of poverty around the world, including those used in European countries.

Analysis of policy towards improvement of perinatal mortality in the Netherlands (2004–2011)

Relatively high perinatal mortality and morbidity rates2 in the Netherlands resulted in a process which induced policy changes regarding the Dutch perinatal healthcare system. Aims of this policy analysis are (1) to identify actors, context and process factors that promoted or impeded agenda setting and formulation of policy regarding perinatal health care reform and (2) to present an overview of the renewed perinatal health policy.The policy triangle framework for policy analysis by Walt and Gilson was applied3. Contents of policy, actors, context factors and process factors were identified by triangulation of data from three sources: a document analysis, stakeholder analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders.Analysis enabled us to chronologically reconstruct the policy process in response to the perinatal mortality rates. The quantification of the perinatal mortality problem, the openness of the debate and the nature of the topic were important process factors. Main theme of policy was that change was required in the entire spectrum of perinatal healthcare. This ranged from care in the preconception phase through to the puerperium. Furthermore emphasis was placed on the importance of preventive measures and socio-environmental determinants of health. This required involvement of the preventive setting, including municipalities. The Dutch tiered perinatal healthcare system and divergent views amongst curative perinatal health care providers were important context factors. This study provides lessons which are applicable to health care professionals and policy makers in perinatal care or other multidisciplinary fields.

Constructing the ideal victim in the United States of America’s annual trafficking in persons reports

Human trafficking as a global phenomenon continues to elude accurate quantitative measure, and remains a controversial policy domain significantly influenced by anecdotal evidence. Drawing on the policy analysis framework of Bacchi (1999, Policy and Society, 26(3), 5–20, 2007) the problem representation of trafficking through narratives can be considered a direct antecedent of contemporary anti-human trafficking policy. This article explores the construction of human trafficking within the Trafficking in Persons Reports, published annually by the United States of America’s Department of State. An examination of the victim and offender narratives contained within the reports published between 2001 and 2012 demonstrates that human trafficking is predominantly represented as a crime committed by ideal offenders against idealized victims, consistent with Christie’s (1986) landmark criteria of ideal victimization. This representation of an ideal prototype has the potential to inform policy that diverts focus from the causative role of global socioeconomic injustice towards criminal justice policies targeting individual offenders.

Toward Effective Water Pipe Tobacco Control Policy in the United States: Synthesis of Federal, State, and Local Policy Texts.

Water pipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is growing in popularity among U.S. young adults and is associated with health risks similar to those of cigarette smoking. The purpose of this study is to examine existing tobacco control policies (TCPs) in order to investigate how they engage WTS. A systematic synthesis of content and legal interactions among federal, state, and local TCP documents. Pennsylvania, which represents a politically and demographically diverse microcosm of the United States. No human subjects. Federal and state TCPs were retrieved via public legal repositories. Local policy searches were conducted via county/municipal Web sites, inclusive of 13 localities that had autonomous health departments or existing TCPs based on a National Cancer Institute report. Full-text TCPs were double coded within a grounded theory framework for health policy analysis. Emergent codes were used to compare and contrast policy texts and to examine legal interactions among TCPs. Examination of policy categories including youth access, use restrictions, and taxation revealed WTS as largely omitted from current TCPs. WTS was sometimes addressed as an "other" tobacco product under older TCPs, though ambiguities in language led to questionable enforceability. State preemptions have rolled back or prevented well-tailored reforms at the local level. Federal preemptions have likewise constrained state TCPs. Outdated, preempted, and unclear policies limit the extent to which TCPs engage WTS. Health advocates might target these aspects of TCP reform.

Re-contextualizing extra-national policy in the Thai construction industry within the new ASEAN economic community

ABSTRACTConstruction stakeholders’ perceptions of probable impacts of the implementation of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC) on practice in the construction industry are analyzed using a policy analysis framework. Implemented in 2015, the AEC is attempting to integrate all economic activities including construction. The construction industry in the AEC countries has been using local laws, regulations, standards, and practices which are not aligned, creating a problem for international construction, engineering, and architecture companies. No new laws or regulations have been foreshadowed or enacted, and there is no consensus about what will be done to address the current anomalies. From interviews, personal stories of senior construction professionals, engaged in construction projects in ASEAN countries, show that the national construction discourse in place currently is what they perceive will remain within an AEC even in a longer timeframe. However, their percep...

A New Keynesian Framework for Monetary Policy Analysis in Iran’s Economy. A Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Approach

This paper focuses on New Keynesian framework for monetary policy analysis of Iran. It considers a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models. This article expands a sensitivity analysis of the optimal rules to deep structural parameters and investigating properties of an optimal simple rule with respect to prevailing type of shocks which is the main purpose of the article. Finally, the study highlights how an optimal policy rule depends on model structure, on the model calibration and nominal rigidities. 
 According to the research findings, based on the theoretical expectations, the effect of a positive shock inflicted on the government investment leads to an increase and gradual accumulation of fixed capital formation in the public sector. Among estimated parameters, consumption is the first affected and reduces, then employment increases consequently, finally production will also be affected. Also with the shock of oil revenues, increased oil revenues which results in public investment at first, because of the increase in oil revenues, the government enhances development expenditure. Though, increase in development expenditure is more than increase in current expenditure. Enhancing development expenditure and construction spending causes total spending increase. As a result of increased production of oil income, consumption and total investment will rise. This leads to inflation too.