Data-Driven Policy Impact Evaluation: How Access to Microdata is Transforming Policy Design por Nuno Crato and Paolo Paruolo Editors published by Springer Open (2019).
“Policymaking is undergoing profound transformations, thanks to the availability of better data and the possibility to uncover causal effects by using improved statistical methods (namely, counterfactual impact evaluation techniques). This book aims to document these changes in a simple language, from a European perspective. The central ideas of the book can be summarised in four paragraphs.
Firstly, statistical methods now exist to rigorously evaluate the impact of policy measures, even when data do not come from controlled experiments. Micro-econometricians and statisticians specialising in these counterfactual impact evaluation methods are well aware of both their potential and limitations. The scope for rigorous causal analysis that they offer is, however, not widely understood. Owing to the inherent complexity of society and the many concurrent factors that influence an outcome, decision-makers often doubt that it is possible to uncover clear causal relationships…”
