On 26 November, at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome, Prof. Ugo Trivellato, coordinator of the Study Committee of the Consiglio italiano per le Scienze Sociali (CSS), gave a lecture on public policy evaluation.
The lecture, entitled Evaluation of the effects of public policies: paradigms and practices, took as a starting point the growing importance in many fields (education, employment, support for companies, etc.) of public policies aimed at specific groups - individuals, households, businesses - whose aim is to positively impact on the condition or the behaviour of the target group. The lecture posed a crucial question: "Has public policy been effective? What have its effects been?". He firstly outlined the scientific paradigm in order to answer these questions, focusing on the notion of "counterfactual": the impact of a public policy is the difference between what is observed when it is being pursued and what would have been observed in its absence. The lecture went on to look at some best practices in the sphere of public policies in the planning and implementation phases, allowing for a credible evaluation of their effects. Finally, Italian experience in this field was briefly touched upon.
Download lecture notes:
- Lecture by Ugo Trivellato
- Debate - Sergio Ristuccia
- Debate - Pia Marconi
- Bruno Dente on public policies - 2005
