IAPA Exam

Bardach and Potashnick's eightfold path - step 1, 2, 3

• step 1: define the problem

• step 2: assemble the evidence

• step 3: construct the alternatives

Why are some people skeptical of the government providing services?

• Quality: can the government run it well, at scale?

• Targeting: a universal program also pays for families who would have bought it anyway… is that the best use of the money?

• Cost: every dollar comes from taxes, or from another program that gets less – and can the government do it cost-efficiently?

• Choice: one model for everyone… some families would rather get the money and decide for themselves

Governments have FOUR buckets of tools…

1. change the price

2. inform, nudge, or force

3. redistribute: move money

4. provide public goods and services

The same policy goal can often be pursued with very different policy tools.

• True

• A goal such as less drinking can be pursued by changing prices (a tax or minimum price), by informing (warnings), or by rules (age limits, bans)

Bardach and Potashnick's eightfold path - step 4, 5, 6

• step 4: select the criteria

• step 5: project the outcomes

• step 6: confront the tradeoffs

What are the common pitfalls in defining a problem

• Pitfall 1: defining the solution into the problem

  • Ex. "Too little shelter" already points to building shelters

    • "Too many families are homeless", leaves more options open for solutions

• Pitfall 2: a causal claim hidden inside the problem statement

  • Ex. Too few kids are vaccinated because parents believe vaccines cause autism

    • The causal claim is already inside it

      • Change to: Vaccination rates are too low - a fact

• Pitfall 3: ignoring the context of the problem

  • Possible solutions that work in one place fail in another, and vice versa

Negative externality

The social cost is higher than the private cost, leading to welfare loss

Positive externalities

The social benefit is higher than the private benefit, so the market produces too little

What does what’s the failure (WTF) ask

What is keeping us from the optimal outcome

Ceteris paribus

All else equal

• a foundational assumption used to isolate the direct cause-and-effect relationship between a single intervention and an outcome

Counterfactual

What would have happened otherwise

• The question under every causal claim: compared to what

  • What we want: the same city/state/place in the same years, without the law