Evidence-Based Research and its Effect on Policymaking

Evidence-based research is widely recognized as an essential input in effective economic policymaking. However, for the results of their research to influence policy, the research community must overcome a variety of challenges, including the absence of adequate and relevant data, differences of research results on the same policy issue, and deficiencies in effectively communicating policy conclusions to the policymakers. This paper stresses the need for increased investment in the generation of adequate and relevant data, and the responsibility of the researchers to seek to reach a consensus or narrow the range of and explain the reasons for their differences, thus enabling the policymakers to exercise their judgment. The direct and indirect channels through which effective interaction between the researchers and policymakers can be enhanced are examined.In the ultimate analysis, the political feasibility of research-based policy conclusions determines their acceptability. The paper discusses the political and economic circumstances, including the possibilities of balancing the interests of those who gain and those who lose from economic reforms, which detract from or facilitate the effect of research on policy. Two examples of research and policy interaction, illustrating its possibilities and limitations, are examined: one at the international level — the response to the world food crisis of 2007-2008 — and the other at the national level, which relates to the output and input subsidy policies in the food-grain sector in the recent years in developing countries