Policy Analysis and Economics by David L Weimer

Policy Analysis and Economics by David L Weimer

Long before policy analysis emerged as a separate profession with its own graduate schools, economists offered advice about government policies. Positive economics provides the tools for predicting the impacts of prop osed policies; normative economics, especially welfare theory, offers a framework for valuing the impacts of policies in terms of efficiency and simple notions of equity. With the expansion of economic theory into ever wider fields of human behavior, it is no wonder that economists have prominence as teachers and practitioners of policy analysis. Indeed, many economists see policy analysis as essentially applied economics. Though other social scientists might object to this somewhat parochial view, economics and policy analysis share much in commom in terms of develop ment and prospects. The purpose of this volume is to trace these interrela tionships and explore the tensions that they create. Tensions arise for several reasons. Changes in the discipline of econ omics affect the findings, methods, and personnel offered to policy analy sis. For example, on the one hand, the new institutional economics appears to be extending the influence of economists to questions involving nonmarket oranizations, while on the other hand, the apparently growing emphasis within the economics profession on creating rather than empir ically testing theory suggests that fewer of the best young scholars will be drawn to policy-relevant research. Within the schools of policy analysis, the drift toward public management may reduce the demand for traditional economic training.

David Weimer is professor of political science and public affairs at the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs. His research focuses broadly on policy craft, institutional design, and health policy. Professor Weimer co-authored Organizational Report Cards and Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice (4th edition), and Cost-Benefit Analysis (3rd edition). His edited volumes include Institutional Design and The Political Economy of Property Rights.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780792391548
ISBN 10	0792391543
Title	Policy Analysis and Economics
Author	David L Weimer
Series	Recent Economic Thought
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Kluwer Academic Publishers
Year published	1991-09-30
Number of pages	213
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.