Enhancing ABM into an Inevitable Tool for Policy Analysis
3 . Requirements for Policy Analysis Tools
The main objective of policy analysis tools is to support a better understanding of the policy problem and the context in which the problem is situated , and to support the evaluation of policy solutions . To reach this objective , there are several aspects that need to be taken into account . First , even though policy implementation is a top-down procedure , policies affect individuals . It is the combination of individuals ’ reactions that determines the success of a policy implementation . While for some problems , it may suffice to capture and understand the overall emergent behavior of the population , for others , a deep understanding of individuals , their unanticipated behavior , and decision making and interactions is essential ( Scharpf 1997 ). Therefore , it is important that policy tools provide a suitable level of system analysis to link between individual behavior and global outcomes . Second , to better understand the problem and its context , the policy instruments need to reflect reality to a required extent depending on the type of problem . Therefore , it is important to consider to what extent the underlying assumptions for any tool ( e . g ., rationality and complete information ) match the characteristics of a specific policy problem .
Each step in the policy analysis cycle ( Figure 1 ) has specific requirements which are classified into five areas discussed below :
1 . Problem definition Policy analysis requires the means to clarify the problem itself including : a ) Techniques that facilitate communication with domain experts and stakeholders ( Moss 2002 ). b ) Techniques to parameterize the problem or problematic behavior . c ) Means of understanding and defining the population . Even though a detailed understanding of individuals may not be a key element for every policy problem , a general understanding of the population that will be affected by the policy is a minimum requirement . In most cases , the context has a large number of active entities and there is very little knowledge about the global interdependencies . d ) Means of identifying the available resources , processes , physical and environmental characteristics , and boundaries of the system where the policy is conducted .
2 . Evaluation Criteria
Support for policy evaluation includes : a ) Specific measures such as cost , benefit , effectiveness , and legality . The problem owner provides these measures directly or indirectly . b ) Means of clarifying , deducing , and confirming measures whether or not provided by the problem owner ( Patton and Sawicki 1993 ) and associating the measure specifications with problem definition . c ) Tools for identification and consideration of extreme values and worstcase scenarios .
3 . Identification of Policy Alternatives Identifying alternative policies is closely related to the problem definition and the set of evaluation criteria . To identify policy alternatives , the analyst requires : a ) Means for identifying the attributes of each policy . b ) Means of linking policies to evaluation measures . c ) Inclusion of technical , economical , societal , and political aspects of each alternative ( Patton and Sawicki 1993 ).
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