---
title: "Evidence-based policy"
chunk: 4/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence-based_policy"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:25:41.073168+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Cost-benefit analysis in evidence-based policy ==
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a method used in evidence-based policy. It is an economic tool used to assess the economic, social, and environmental impacts of policies. The aim is to guide policymakers toward decisions that increase societal welfare.
The use of cost-benefit analysis in policy-making was first mandated by President Ronald Reagan's Executive Order 12291 in 1981. This order stated that administrative decisions should use sufficient information regarding the potential impacts of regulation. Maximizing the net benefits to society was a primary stated focus among the five general requirements of the order. EO 12291 built on the Nixon administration's expansion of federal control over agencies; in particular, his Quality of Life Review which directed agencies to submit "significant" proposed rules, including a "a comparison of expected costs and benefits" to the Office of Management and Budget.
Later presidents, including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, modified but still emphasized the importance of cost-benefit analysis in their executive orders. For example, Clinton's Executive Order 12866 maintained cost-benefit analysis but also stressed the importance of flexibility, public involvement, and coordination among agencies.
During the Obama administration, Executive Order 13563 further strengthened the role of cost-benefit analysis in regulatory review. The EO encouraged agencies to consider values that are difficult or impossible to quantify, like equity, human dignity, and fairness.
The use of cost-benefit analysis in these executive orders highlights its central role in evidence-based policy. By comparing the potential impacts of different policy options, cost-benefit analysis can aid in policy decisions that are based on empirical evidence and designed to maximize societal benefits.

== Critiques ==
Evidence-based policy has faced several critiques. Paul Cairney, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Stirling in Scotland, contends that proponents of the approach often underestimate the complexity of policy-making and misconstrue how policy decisions are typically made. Nancy Cartwright and Jeremy Hardie question the emphasis on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), arguing that evidence from RCTs is not always sufficient for making decisions. They suggest that applying experimental evidence to a policy context requires an understanding of the conditions present within the experimental setting and an assertion that these conditions also exist in the target environment of the proposed intervention. Additionally, they argue that the prioritization of RCTs could lead to the criticism of evidence-based policy being overly focused on narrowly defined 'interventions', which implies surgical actions on one causal factor to influence its effect.
The concept of intervention within the evidence-based policy movement aligns with James Woodward's interventionist theory of causality. However, policy-making also involves other types of decisions, such as institutional reforms and predictive actions. These other forms of evidence-based decision-making do not necessitate evidence of an invariant causal relationship under intervention. Hence, mechanistic evidence and observational studies are often adequate for implementing institutional reforms and actions that do not alter the causes of a causal claim.
Furthermore, there have been reports of frontline public servants, such as hospital managers, making decisions that detrimentally affect patient care to meet predetermined targets. This argument was presented by Professor Jerry Muller of the Catholic University of America in his book The Tyranny of Metrics.

== See also ==

== References ==

== Further reading ==
Cartwright, Nancy; Stegenga, Jacob (2011). "A theory of evidence for evidence-based policy". In Dawid, A.P.; Twining, W.; Vasilaki, M. (eds.). Evidence, Inference and Enquiry. Proceedings of the British Academy. Vol. 171. Oxford University Press. pp. 290–322. doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197264843.003.0011. ISBN 978-0-19-726484-3.
Davies, H.T.O.; Nutley, S.M.; Smith, P.C. (2000). What Works? Evidence-based Policy and Practice in the Public Services. Bristol: Policy Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1t892t3. ISBN 1-86134-191-1. OCLC 472670136.
Hammersley, M. (2002). Educational Research, Policymaking and Practice. Paul Chapman/Sage. ISBN 978-1-84787-645-4.
Hammersley, M. (2013). The Myth of Research-Based Policy and Practice. Sage. ISBN 978-1-4462-9171-9.
McKinnon, Madeleine C.; Cheng, Samantha H.; Garside, Ruth; Masuda, Yuta J.; Miller, Daniel C. (2015). "Sustainability: Map the evidence". Nature. 528 (7581): 185–7. Bibcode:2015Natur.528..185M. doi:10.1038/528185a. PMID 26659166.
Schneider, Mike D. et al. 2026. "Revisiting the Base in Evidence-Based Policy." Political Studies 74(1).

== External links ==
"Modernising Government". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009.
"U.S. Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act of 2016" (PDF).
"U.S. Commission on Evidence-based Policy". Archived from the original on 17 January 2020.
"U.S. House bill passed to enact some of CEP recommendations". November 2017.