Impact Assessment, CBA & Policy Evaluation
Economics plays an important role in understanding the implications of new government policies, regulatory requirements, legislative changes or public and private investments.
The assessment of impacts can take place before a policy or scheme is implemented or once a change has occurred, when the outcomes and effectiveness of an intervention against the stated policy objective(s) can also be evaluated.
Our clients include firms, regulators, government departments and third sector bodies both nationally and internationally
Combining robust analytical methods with innovate, cutting-edge solutions tailored to our clients’ needs and circumstances, our toolkit to analyse the impacts of policies and projects includes:
Policy development and appraisal
Assessing the rationale for intervention (e.g. to correct for market or regulatory failure, realise certain equity/ distributional objectives), and identifying and assessing relevant policy options in light of the intended policy objectives.
Cost-benefit analysis
Estimating and monetising the costs and benefits of the relevant policy options, often followed by a comparison of the costs and benefits of different policy options relative to a counterfactual of doing nothing (or doing the minimum possible).
Cost-effectiveness analysis
Comparing the relative costs of potential interventions, often as an alternative to cost-benefit analysis for example if the benefits cannot be expressed in monetary terms.
Compliance cost analysis
Assessing the costs of complying with specific policies or regulatory/ legal requirements e.g. in terms of increased costs and foregone revenue opportunities.
Multi-criteria analysis
Comparing policy options against a range of criteria including but not limited to cost.
Input-output analysis
Assessing the direct, indirect and induced impacts of a business or intervention through applying “multipliers” to estimate how the direct impacts ripple out across the economy, creating extra value as they do so.
Value for Money (VfM) assessment
Using metrics such as Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) and Net Present Public Value (NPPV) are to indicate whether investments represent value for money for public authorities.
Our clients include firms, regulators, government departments and third sector bodies both nationally and internationally
Combining robust analytical methods with innovate, cutting-edge solutions tailored to our clients’ needs and circumstances, our toolkit to analyse the impacts of policies and projects includes:
Equally, these methods can be applied to analyse the broader economic, social, environmental and competition impacts of interventions, or to articulate the economic and social contribution of organisations or investments to local and national economies. Our toolkit also allows us to consider the distributional impacts for different groups of stakeholders (consumers, businesses, public sector, etc.) and to systematically take account of the risks and uncertainties surrounding the impacts.
To ensure that business and policy decisions are based on robust methodologies and high-quality evidence, our approach to impact assessments and evaluations draws on a wide range of qualitative methods (e.g. evidence reviews and stakeholder consultation) and quantitative techniques (including econometrics and data science) and blends insights from both mainstream and behavioural economics (e.g. valuing non-market impacts through stated and revealed preference methods).
Depending on the needs and circumstances of clients, our analysis often follows the guidance published by public bodies such as the Green and Magenta Book (HM Treasury), Transport Analysis Guidance (Department for Transport), Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment guidance (Scottish Government), Better Regulation Guidelines (European Commission) whilst bringing innovative yet robust solutions based on our in-depth experience and in-house Impact Assessment Handbook.
Key Contacts
Please feel free to reach out to our experts if you have any questions.
Impact Assessment, CBA & Policy Evaluation Publications
