Less Plato and More Aristotle: Empirical Evaluation of Public Policies in Local Services

Abstract

Using evidence-based methodologies to evaluate the impact of public policies has gained relevance in the recent decades. The methodologies that can be used to evaluate are of different types, depending on the available data and the problems related to the design of the empirical strategy. In this chapter, several methodologies useful for empirical-based evaluation of public policies are briefly presented and discussed: case studies, comparative policy analysis, conventional multivariate analysis, and quasi-experiments. The examples of studies that used those methodologies are also provided. Although all methodologies are subject to non-trivial limitations, they are useful for all those that share the view that public policies—and politics from which they emerge—must be valued for their results rather than for their intentions.

Presentation and discussion of methodologies based on conversations with Daniel Albalate (Universitat de Barcelona), who has also provided useful comments to this paper. I have benefited from suggestions received when presenting the content of this paper in meetings of COST Action: IS1207 in Dubrovnik (May 2015) and Zagreb (June 2016).