Artikel

Why public policies fail: Policymaking under complexity

The failure of public policies is ubiquitous. This paper ascribes this failure to the complex system nature of public policies. A key characteristic of complex systems is that they cannot be closely controlled or predicted. Yet the traditional approach to public policy is fundamentally based on both control and prediction, as it proceeds by comparing the expected costs and benefits of a postulated set of alternatives. In this paper I provide five pathologies of complex systems and show how they cause the failure of the traditional approach. If a public policy is recognized as taking place within a complex system, it is necessary to use instruments that can work within those informational and epistemological constraints. I provide several examples of the types of policies that meet these demands. But when dealing with complex systems, even with appropriate instruments it is nevertheless necessary to adjust the expectations of what can realistically be achieved.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Journal: EconomiA ; ISSN: 1517-7580 ; Volume: 21 ; Year: 2020 ; Issue: 2 ; Pages: 311-323 ; Amsterdam: Elsevier

Classification
Wirtschaft
Microeconomic Policy: Formulation, Implementation, and Evaluation
Positive Analysis of Policy Formulation and Implementation
Subject
Complex systems
Complexity
Policy failure
Public policy

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Mueller, Bernardo
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Elsevier
(where)
Amsterdam
(when)
2020

DOI
doi:10.1016/j.econ.2019.11.002
Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:46 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Artikel

Associated

  • Mueller, Bernardo
  • Elsevier

Time of origin

  • 2020

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