The Role of Impact Studies in Public Policy, Strategy
April 09, 2012
Analysis Group professionals have conducted a number of commissioned economic impact studies over the years to help identify and measure how changes in funding flows, technology, regulations, and other variables can affect public policy or corporate strategy decisions. Working with academic affiliates from leading universities, as well as industry thought leaders, our consultants have developed influential white papers targeting a range of topics in the public domain, including climate change and the development of offshore wind power, mental health issues, privacy/copyright policies and technology investments, job creation related to globalization of the high-tech workforce, job creation related to mobile broadband expansion in the U.S., the public benefits of merging utility companies, stem cell research, U.S. terrorism risk, and biosimilar development.
Our consultants employ a variety of econometric models and analytical approaches to isolate the economic and competitive factors at issue and project their effects. These include applied economics, comparative analyses, market definition, statistics, and market research and survey analysis. These tools allow our professionals to measure the impact of a potential change on output (production or sales), wages, jobs, and tax revenue in an industry or geographic area. “In the context of public policy debates, there will always be some sort of political or ethical component, but there is often a dollars-and-cents component as well,” notes Managing Principal Bruce Deal. “Policy discussions often revolve around some broader argument about what kinds of tradeoffs are acceptable,” agrees Managing Principal Lau Christensen. “The only way to accurately assess those tradeoffs, however, is to understand the potential outcomes.”