Impact assessment

Short description: Evaluations of public policy proposals before passage

Policy impact assessments, or simply impact assessments (IAs), are formal, evidence-based procedures that assess prospective economic, social, and environmental effects of a public policy proposal.[1] They have been incorporated into policy making in the OECD countries and the European Commission. If the assessment is favourable, and the proposed policy is enacted—after a suitable length of time for the policy to gain traction—it might be followed by an impact evaluation; ideally, assessed impacts before the fact and evaluated impacts after the fact are not wildly divergent. In some cases, impact becomes politicized due to a change in the governing regime between assessment and evaluation, and non-congruence might be amplified for ideological reasons. In other cases, the world is a complex place, and assessment is not a perfect art.

Key types of impact assessments include global assessments (global level), policy impact assessment (policy level), strategic environmental assessment (programme and plan level), and environmental impact assessment (project level). Impact assessments can focus on specific themes, such as social impact assessments and gender impact assessments.

IAs can improve legislation by:[2]

* Informing policy makers about potential economic, social, and environmental ramifications
* Improving transparency so that contributions to sustainability and "better regulation" are disclosed and special interest lobbying is discouraged
* Increasing public participation in order to reflect a range of considerations, thereby improving the legitimacy of policies
* Clarifying how public policy helps achieve its goals and priorities through policy indicators
* Contributing to continuous learning in policy development by identifying causalities that inform ex-post review of policies

## Contents

* 1 Procedure
* 2 Methods
* 3 See also
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Procedure

The department which is responsible for the policy proposal usually has to carry out the IA. Although the purpose and orientation of IA procedures differ, IA guidelines in the various jurisdictions all follow a similar set of steps to be followed by desk officers:

1. Planning of the IA
2. Carrying out the impact analysis
3. Consultation of affected stakeholders and the general public
4. Coordination with affected departments
5. Summary and presentation of findings in a report
6. Forwarding findings to decision makers
7. Publication of the IA report (not in all countries)

The analytical steps, which mainly relate to step 2, can be set out as i. Problem definition ii. Definition of policy objectives iii. Development of policy options iv. Analysis of impacts v. Comparison of policy options and recommendation of one option vi. Defining monitoring measures.

## Methods

Throughout the IA process, methods can be used for support. In recent years governments have increasingly invested in developing and applying methods and tools for IA.[3][4] Depending on usage, IA methods can be classified as methods for

* Scoping (e.g., checklists)
* For qualitative analysis (e.g., focus groups)
* For quantitative analysis (e.g., life-cycle assessment, material flow accounting, modelling)
* Aggregation and comparison of options (e.g., cost–benefit analysis)
* Analysing coherence (e.g., Gender IA)
* Supporting participation and involvement (e.g., internet consultation)
* Data presentation and involvement (e.g., GIS)
* Monitoring and evaluation (e.g., indicators)[5]

## See also

* Impact evaluation
* Outcomes theory
* Participatory impact pathways analysis
* Policy analysis
* Policy studies
* Program evaluation
* True cost accounting

## References

1. ↑ Adelle, Camilla; Weiland, Sabine (2012). "Policy assessment: the state of the art". Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal 30 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1080/14615517.2012.663256. Bibcode: 2012IAPA...30...25A.
2. ↑ Jacob, Klaus; Ferretti, Johanna; Guske, Anna-Lena; Turnpenny, John; Jordan, Andrew; Adelle, Camilla (2011). "Sustainability in Impact Assessments A Review of Impact Assessment Systems in selected OECD countries and the European Commission". OECD SG/SD(2011)6/FINAL. http://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/Sustainability in impact assessment SG-SD(2011)6-FINAL.pdf. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
3. ↑ Podhora, Aranka; Helming, K; Adenäuer, L.; Heckelei, T.; Kautto, P.; Reidsma, P.; Rennings, K.; Turnpenny, J. et al. (2013). "). The policy-relevancy of impact assessment tools: Evaluating nine years of European research funding". Environmental Science & Policy 31: 85–95. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2013.03.002. Bibcode: 2013ESPol..31...85P.
4. ↑ Nilsson, Mans; Jordan, Andrew; Turnpenny, John; Hertin, Julia; Nykvist, Björn; Russel, Duncan (2008). "The use and non-use of policy appraisal tools in public policy making: an analysis of three European countries and the European Union". Policy Sciences 41 (4): 335–355. doi:10.1007/s11077-008-9071-1.
5. ↑ LIAISE – Network of Excellence. "LIAISE KIT – Knowledge for Decision Making". http://www.liaise-kit.eu/.

## External links

* International Association for Impact Assessment (main source)
* Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal (a journal)
* Impact Assessment Page at the European Commission
* IAIA Wiki

* v
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Social and environmental accountability

Ethics and
principles|

* Aarhus Convention
* Corporate accountability / behaviour / social responsibility
* Ethical banking
* Ethical code
* Extended producer responsibility
* Organizational ethics
* Organizational justice
* Principles for Responsible Investment
* Social responsibility
* Stakeholder theory
* Sullivan principles
* Transparency (behavioral
* social)
* UN Global Compact

Social
accounting|

* Double bottom line
* Ethical positioning index
* Higg Index
* Impact assessment (environmental
* equality
* social)
* ISO 26000
* ISO 45001
* Genuine progress indicator
* Performance indicator
* SA8000
* Social return on investment
* Whole-life cost

Environmental
accounting|

* Carbon accounting
* Eco-Management and Audit Scheme
* Emission inventory
* Environmental full-cost accounting / impact assessment / management system / profit-and-loss account
* ISO 14000
* ISO 14031
* Life-cycle assessment
* Pollutant release and transfer register
* Sustainability accounting / measurement / metrics and indices / standards and certification / supply chain
* Toxics Release Inventory
* Triple bottom line

Reporting|

* Global Reporting Initiative
* GxP guidelines
* Sustainability reporting

Auditing|

* Community-based monitoring
* Environmental (certification)
* Fair trade (certification)
* ISO 19011

Related|

* Bangladesh Accord
* Benefit corporation
* Child labour
* Community interest company
* Conflict of interest
* Disasters
* Disinvestment
* Eco-labeling
* Environmental pricing reform
* Environmental, social and corporate governance
* Ethical consumerism
* Euthenics
* Health impact assessment
* Market governance mechanism
* Product certification
* Public participation
* Social enterprise
* Socially responsible investing
* Stakeholder (engagement)
* Supply chain management

* Environment portal
* Category
* Commons
* Organizations

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