Policy Design Approach Research Articles

Calibrating payment for ecosystem services: a process-oriented policy design approach

Recent empirical research in policy design has shown the relevance of micro-level components, particularly specification and calibration, in shaping policy outcomes. Additionally, research highlights the importance that understanding the mechanisms underlying the policy process has for effective policy design. Yet, a gap persists in how to effectively calibrate and specify policies for specific cases, with a theoretical grounding and guidance for practitioners. This paper addresses this need by applying a process theory of change to delineate the key episodes that constitute the mechanisms of a plausible pathway for an effective Program for Ecosystem Services (PES), an incentives-based instrument focused on conserving forests producing carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, and water infiltration, among other services. Specifically, the paper uses the well-documented Mexican PES to illustrate how to derive the mechanisms and use them for calibration and specification. The paper provides valuable theoretical insights drawn from the case study, contributing to the field of micro-policy design with a mechanistic approach.

Human capital and innovation in Uruguayan manufacturing firms

PurposeFirms are the primary producers of innovations, and understanding how these agents acquire, update and manage the knowledge of their employees is central to understanding economic growth. However, in developing economies, technology adaptation plays a critical role in innovation compared to knowledge creation. Thus, this research investigates the role of human capital in innovation at the firm level in the case of a small developing economy, which ranks highly on several human capital dimensions but shows declining levels of investment in advanced human capital development in its manufacturing sector.Design/methodology/approachThis research examines the relationship between innovation and human capital at the firm level in a small peripheral economy. The human capital theory is applied to a firm context to understand variations in innovative behavior depending on the size of manufacturing companies. The effect of several human capital dimensions on product innovation is estimated by applying binomial logistic regression models with firm and time-fixed effects.FindingsThis article contributes to innovation economics and public policy by highlighting that not all dimensions of human capital operate similarly for all companies in the context of developing economies. In such settings, technology adaptation plays a critical role in innovation. While employees' human capital endowments significantly impact small firms in that context, firm-level practices such as internal training are crucial for large companies. Consequently, policymakers should consider that firms' human capital endowments impact their innovative behavior differently to avoid one-size-fits-all policy design approaches in this regard.Originality/valuePrior research on the relationship between human capital and innovation in developing economies was based on a cross-sectional approach. This research's unique panel dataset covering 11-year triennial innovation surveys enabled a modeling strategy that controls for time-invariant unobservable firm characteristics. Three aspects of firms' human capital have been analyzed human capital endowments, internal training and human resource management (HRM) practices for the first time longitudinally in a developing economy, enabling to contrast of empirical findings with policy design.

Japan’s Role and Presence in the Changing Geopolitics of the Pacific Islands Region

ABSTRACT Owing to China’s increasing influence, the complex geopolitics of the Pacific Islands has become a threat to the strategic superiority of Western democratic countries. The diplomatic policies of the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan toward Pacific Island countries (PICs) stand at a critical juncture, prompting the review of current policy approaches and introduction of new ones. This study suggests an approach that Japan could employ to increase its presence, through an evaluation of Pacific Leaders’ Educational Assistance for Development of State (Pacific-LEADS), a scholarship programme expected to contribute to PICs’ economic growth, strengthen existing ties, and increase Japan’s presence in the region. This evaluation is based on interviews and surveys conducted in Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu in 2019 and 2020. Insufficient communication and poor understanding of PICs, the primary factors limiting the programme’s effectiveness, are attributed to a policy design approach grounded in the donor–recipient relationship. Japan may need to use a new approach that emphasises the promotion of substantial equal partnerships.

How social imbalance and governance quality shape policy directives for energy transition in the OECD countries?

In line with the COP26 Summit objectives, this paper develops a policy framework to achieve energy transition by considering the social imbalances and regulatory effectiveness. A new energy transition index is proposed. It is an output-side indicator based on the energy ladder hypothesis. This index enables to apprehend the energy transition scenario in any country by capturing (a) the transition to a cleaner energy source, and (b) the transition to more energy efficient sources. Using the two-step System GMM approach and data for 37 OECD countries over the 2000–2019 period, the dynamic and extreme marginal impacts of energy transition drivers with respect to estimates of the model parameters are analyzed. The results show that the social imbalance dampens the positive impacts of energy transition drivers, whereas governance quality helps in augmenting those impacts. The outcomes, drawn from a scenario-based policy design approach, are particularly helpful in advancing potential policy discourse. They have important practical implications for the development of the SDG-oriented policy framework, with special focus on the attainment of the SDG 7 and 13.

Health Policy in Asia: A Policy Design Approach

Health Policy in Asia: A Policy Design Approach

Toward a precision, complexity-informed cultural policy design: Structural bottlenecks to culture-led development in Skaraborg, Sweden

We analyze the spatial–temporal dynamics of cultural vibrancy in the Swedish sub-region of Skaraborg. Our database consists of 4170 geo-localized cultural activities and facilities, mapped between October 2013 and March 2014. We make use of the TWC methodology for the dynamic simulation of the evolution of geo-localized activity starting from an observed distribution of events, and of the AutoCM ANN architecture to understand how cultural variables are related to the rest of the Skaraborg socio-economy. We find that cultural vibrancy in Skaraborg is likely characterized by a ‘flaring’ pattern of initial, widespread activity followed by a re-concentration into the main local urban hubs. The deep reason behind this unsuccessful developmental trajectory is the lack of centrality of cultural production in the local socio-economy, and of integration across cultural production sectors. This is in turn due also to structural bottlenecks of a non-cultural nature such as insufficient access of women to higher education. We make a case for the necessity to develop a new precision cultural policy design approach founded upon the science of complexity for both policy design and assessment, and we provide and illustrate a first technical toolkit to this purpose.

Designing cultural diplomacy policy: structuring a flagship mechanism

ABSTRACT Cultural diplomacy (CD) research has focused on various elements of practice, such as the contexts, rationales, players, and methods. However, research explaining the interrelationships among such elements of CD is less common. This scarcity can inhibit an effective and accurate evaluation of CD programs. This article, by acknowledging the significance of this gap and being informed by policy design theory and foreign policy analysis (FPA), constructs a framework to articulate a policy design approach by focusing on comparative cases of flagship mechanisms of CD. It specifically considers flagships characterized by having a persistent presence, formal authorization, and global scope, which represents a structural approach to CD design that is aiming for a holistic view that addresses multiple purposes and is capable of adapting to particular international environments. To explain how this structural mechanism works, this article focuses on the practices of the United States, the United Kingdom, and China as they provide rich empirical data and concrete international and domestic contexts that can be used to interpret and apply the policy design and FPA concepts presented in the analytical framework. The conclusions point to the value of the interdisciplinary analytical concepts blended and potential transferability of the flagship mechanism.

Personas, the Pandemic, and Inclusive, Synthetic, Smart City Planning

In the era of COVID-19 planners, and more broadly, city administrators and policy makers, have learned to cope with the accelerated pace of change, the broad band of uncertainty, and the need for rapid decision-making strategies. This, in the context of ever more diverse communities and greater reliance on technology as an effective response to the social and public health challenges of the pandemic. “Smart” cities harness distributed communication and service delivery technologies to enhance the quality of urban life. The voices of citizens from marginalized and under-served populations, such as older adults and people with disabilities, are vital to the development of inclusive smart cities. In this paper expanding an inclusive policy design approach is proposed that uses ‘personas’ to actively engage those citizens.

Exploring the use of speculative design as a participatory approach to more inclusive policy-identification and development in Malaysia

This Case Study paper presents the first exploration of Speculative Design as a participatory democracy method for navigating the future of ageing in Malaysia. Speculative Design in the context of Global South is emerging, but without much data on how it is applied within different socio-economic conditions from the Global North countries. This Case Study considers the challenges and opportunities of employing Speculative Design as policy identification and development method from the context of Malaysia, a Global South country with its own unique characteristics. The paper concludes by suggesting that the novelty of Speculative Design as a policy-design approach in Global South countries, such as in Malaysia, requires the right selection of provocations and culturally familiar content to ease introduction of the methodology. Also, the efficacy of this approach as a participatory design application would require further enculturation within targeted communities, as well as sustained engagement through Champions.

Starting with us: Imagining relational, co-designed policy approaches to improve healthcare access for rural people with disability.

Access to healthcare for rural Australians is a wicked problem, particularly for rural people with disability. Contemporary healthcare access frameworks in Australia tend to overlook geography, use a 'one-size-fits-all approach', and disregard the valuable relationships between key rural healthcare stakeholders, including rural people with disability, rural health services and health professionals. The United Nation's Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires the Australian Government to engage people with disability in the design of policies that will shape their day-to-day lives, including their access to healthcare. However, the nature and extent to which rural people with disability, rural health professionals and other key rural stakeholders are involved in the design of Australian policies impacting the health of rural people with disability are unknown. This paper examines approaches taken to engage rural people with disability and health professionals in the design of Australian disability policy impacting healthcare access, and reimagines future processes which can improve healthcare access for rural people with disability. Co-design and ethics of care lenses are applied to policy design approaches in this paper. We approach this work as rural disability and health academics, rural health professionals, and as rural people with disability, neurodivergence and family members of people with disability. We argue future co-designed policy approaches could focus on driving change towards equity in healthcare access for rural people with disability by harnessing the relational nature of rural healthcare.

An urban PES model for diffused green areas requalification and maintenance in Milan

In 2005 Milan Municipality launched the “Adopt a green spot” model initiative, to restore and maintain scattered and marginal green areas, following a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme. The PES scheme was designed in the form of two standardized typologies of voluntary agreements – sponsorship and collaboration - allowing flexibility in the commitment of involved private stakeholders, including condominiums, NGOs, and the business. 502 agreements, for a total surface of 265.398 m2, have been signed up to now. The paper analysis the design components of the PES scheme which determines its capacity to be replicated in different contexts involving a variety of stakeholders. The main elements enabling the success of the PES scheme are i) the flexibility of the voluntary agreements designed to meet the needs of various stakeholders; ii) the variety of green areas included in the initiative; iii) public recognition which makes it possible to attract firms iv) low transaction costs borne by the stakeholders. The financial resources committed, even if representing a small portion of the total social benefit generated, are sufficient to ensure an adequate requalification and maintenance of small green areas, often neglected because of scarcity of public financing. The replication capacity of this PES scheme makes it a model initiative. Given its characteristics and flexibility, it has been used for the definition of more than 500 agreements with different stakeholders, and for these reasons the policy design approach can be suitable for the replication in other urban contests.

Integrated Carbon Policy Design for Achieving Net-Zero Targets

Several countries have set net-zero targets, and many more will announce in the next few years. Countries have used carbon pricing as an instrument to cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and provide a price signal to attract private investments to achieve net-zero targets. However, current carbon policy in countries with net-zero targets remains inadequate and asymmetrical to overcome net-zero challenges; there are visible gaps in the carbon price level, sectoral coverage, and mechanism to reward carbon-neutral initiatives. This paper proposed an integrated carbon policy design covering economic, technical, and social dimensions and discussed how an integrated policy design approach could be effective in helping countries achieve net-zero objectives. The paper makes recommendations for net-zero policymakers. First, a stable and appropriate carbon price must be in place to attract private investments in carbon offset measures and commercialize clean technologies. Second, governments should use an effective revenue recycling mechanism to engage firms and citizens in mitigating the side effects of the carbon price regime and win their trust. Third, countries should promote behavioral changes and carbon footprint reduction measures through citizen participation. 

Participatory policy design: igniting systems change through prototyping

The complexity of 21st-century socio-ecological-technical challenges increasingly strains the capacity of 20th-century policy design approaches. This new context opens an opportunity to evolve norms and perspectives on what is the intent of policy, but perhaps more importantly, on how policy is constructed – and for whom. In this article, we share an alternative to conventional policy design, expanding the notion of “policy-as-content” to embrace a more participatory approach to frame, make, and implement policy. We briefly present how we combined systems and behavioral design frameworks to scaffold prototyping activities during a design research project that explored food waste as a critical path for co-designing sustainable and equitable food systems in the City of Chicago. We highlight relevant activities of this project to show how our approach can challenge embedded norms and privileges in existing urban food systems and interrogate traditional ownership of problem definition and solution finding in policy design processes. Finally, we conclude with the implications of employing this approach to policy design when promoting large-scale change.

Harnessing Advances in Agricultural Technologies to Optimize Resource Utilization in the Food-Energy-Water Nexus

Food-energy-water (FEW) nexus is facing grand challenges in meeting increasing demand resulting from global changes in climate, economy, and population. Emerging technologies are expected to play a critical role in responding to these challenges. Focusing on four types of prominent emerging technologies, namely, precision agriculture coupled with big data and machine learning, gene editing, the second-generation biofuels, and Agrivoltaics, the article reviews existing studies regarding opportunities and challenges of these emerging technologies to address issues related to the FEW nexus. It also reviews drivers of innovation and adoption of these emerging technologies as well as the roles of public policies interacting with the drivers. Characteristics of technologies and of farmers, together with policy incentives, are key determinants of technology adoption. To evaluate and harness the potential benefits as well as to prevent the negative effects of emerging technologies, holistic, instead of siloed, research and policy design approaches should be employed.

From Culture 1.0 to Culture 3.0: Three Socio-Technical Regimes of Social and Economic Value Creation through Culture, and Their Impact on European Cohesion Policies

We develop a new conceptual framework to analyze the evolution of the relationship between cultural production and different forms of economic and social value creation in terms of three alternative socio-technical regimes that have emerged over time. We show how, with the emergence of the Culture 3.0 regime characterized by novel forms of active cultural participation, where the distinction between producers and users of cultural and creative contents is increasingly blurred, new channels of social and economic value creation through cultural participation acquire increasing importance. We characterize them through an eight-tier classification, and argue on this basis why cultural policy is going to acquire a central role in the policy design approaches of the future. Whether Europe will play the role of a strategic leader in this scenario in the context of future cohesion policies is an open question.

The Limits of Predictability in Predefining Phase Spaces of Dynamic Social–Ecological Systems: “Command and Control” Versus “Complex Systems”-Based Policy Design Approaches to Conserve Tropical Forests

The Limits of Predictability in Predefining Phase Spaces of Dynamic Social–Ecological Systems: “Command and Control” Versus “Complex Systems”-Based Policy Design Approaches to Conserve Tropical Forests

The Youth Guarantee in Italy and the New Policy Design Approach: Expectations, Hopes and Delusions

AbstractThe article presents an empirical analysis of the Italian Youth Guarantee (YG) based on the approach of the new policy design. After having reviewed the most recent literature concerning this analytical approach, it examines the rationales, actors, aims, and contextual factors, as well as the political dynamics, that characterised the design of the YG national plan and its first implementation at the local level. The article argues that the Youth Guarantee offered the opportunity to think about the reorganisation of responsibilities and operational governance mechanisms in the domain of active labour market policy. Although some innovations and discontinuities are evident, the path of reform is still largely incomplete.

“Next-Generation” Accountability? Evidence From Three School Districts

Educational accountability is dominated by a focus on test scores to assess academic achievement. An emerging trend toward “next-generation” accountability includes a broader conception of student learning and multiple metrics. A policy design approach is used to analyze this trend. Four design elements—goals, actors, metrics, and consequences—are used to compare accountability systems in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Key design trends include broader accountability goals, multiple metrics with different data types, and an emphasis on school improvement. Although facing challenges, urban school districts have opportunities to play a role in shaping this accountability debate.

Educating the developmental state: policy integration and mechanism redesign in Singapore’s SkillsFuture scheme

ABSTRACTAs an archetypal developmental state, Singapore has always emphasized the role of higher education as a means of human capital development. The recent introduction of the SkillsFuture scheme represents a similarly development-oriented higher education policy initiative. Taking a policy design approach and drawing from mechanism design, this paper argues that the SkillsFuture scheme constitutes an act of policy ‘integration’, whereby new policy instruments and goals are added to an existing policy mix without compromising instrument mix consistency or coherence of policy goals. However, the presence of information asymmetries has also resulted in a need for ‘mechanism redesign’.

Network-centric policy design

Two important challenges in policy design are better understanding of the design space and consideration of the temporal factors. Moreover, in recent years it has been demonstrated that understanding the complex interactions of policy measures can play an important role in policy design and analysis. In this paper, the advances made in conceptualization and application of networks to policy design in the past decade are highlighted. Specifically, the use of a network-centric policy design approach in better understanding the design space and temporal consequences of design choices are presented. Network-centric policy design approach has been used in classification, visualization, and analysis of the relations among policy measures as well as ranking of policy measures using their internal properties and interactions, and conducting sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulations. Furthermore, through use of a decision support system, network-centric approach facilitates ranking, visualization, and selection of policies using different sets of criteria, and exploring the potential for compromise in policy formulation. The advantage of the network-centric approach is providing the ability to go beyond visualizations and analysis of policies and piecemeal use of network concepts as a tool for different policy design tasks to moving to a more integrated bottom–up approach to design. Furthermore, the computational advantages of the network-centric policy design in considering temporal factors such as policy sequencing and addressing issues such as layering, drift, policy failure, and delay are presented. Finally, some of the current challenges of network-centric design are discussed, and some potential avenues of exploration in policy design through use of computational methodologies, as well as possible integration with approaches from other disciplines, are highlighted.