Keywords Flashcards
public problem
Def: conditions/ behaviors that 1) negatively affect many people and 2) require collective action. Problem & solution are contested & ambiguous.
Ex: basically any policy
Significance: problem definition
administrative burdens
Def: - the intentional/unintentional frictions people face in encounters w/ public services:
- leads to meaningful learning, compliance, and/or psychological costs
- burdens some more than others
- includes consequences for access to services & policy efficacy
Ex:
Significance: problem definition
learning costs
Def: - costs incurred as part of administrative burden
- related to search processes to collect information about public services and how they are relevant to the individual
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compliance costs
Def: - costs incurred as part of administrative burden
-** relating to time and effort needed **to follow administrative rules and requirements
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psychological costs
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“deserving poor”
Def:
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entitlement program
Def: gov programs that provide monetary or other benefits
to all those who meet eligibility requirements
they dont run out
Money grows w/ number of people
Entitlement vs universal program (entitlement programs are defined by the existence of an eligibility criterion, while universal programs are created with the intention of eliminating incentives to change behavior)
Ex:
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means-tested program
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universal program
Def: can participate in universal social welfare programs (e.g., Social Security, Medicare) regardless of income and/or wealth.
-May have other eligibility requirements (e.g., age). — Universal programs eliminate any incentives to change behavior (e.g., reduce hours worked) in order to gain eligibility; serving more people makes any given benefit more expensive.
Ex: Medicare (not medicaid) -
Significance:
racism (structural / systemic)
Def:
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randomized controlled trial (RCT)
Def:
- An experimental way to provide access to a treatment or policy intervention.
- A random mechanism (such as a lottery) is used to determine who from an eligible population will receive the treatment and who will not.
- RCT’s allow for causal inference when conducted correctly.
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accountability
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compliance
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causal inference
Def:
- control and experimental groups are approx same prior to assignment to treatment
- cause and effect
- especially w/ RCT
Ex:
Significance: evaluation
human capital
Def: “the knowledge, skills, and health that people invest in and accumulate throughout their lives.” (Source: World Bank) With no government role, people would underinvest in human capital for themselves and their children due to credit constraints and imperfect information. Human capital generates returns that are private (personal) and public (spillovers or “externalities”). Parents/guardians “invest” on behalf of children; government may intervene paternalistically to improve private returns. Public returns to human capital include supporting democracy, economic growth, social mobility, and intergenerational returns.
People typically are mainly concerned with how it benefits them on an individual level
Gov intervening incentives people to invest in it
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federalism
Def: a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by more than one level of government.
- Generally, an overarching national (in the US, federal) government is responsible for broader governance of larger territorial areas, while the smaller subdivisions, states and cities govern the issues of local concern.
- Different levels of government have different legal rights and responsibilities that determine their ability to make policy and finance, deliver, and regulate public services.
Ex:
Significance: policy formulation
policy “window”
Def:
Ex:
Significance: policy formulation/adoption,
stakeholders
Def:
Ex: Sin Taxes in the Philippines,
Significance:
(political) framing
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path dependence
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moral hazard
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Samaritan’s dilemma
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street-level bureaucrats
Def: public service workers who interact directly with the public as part of their job and have significant discretion in how they apply and enforce public policies. Their decisions about how to carry out their jobs help shape what public policies look like in practice vs. theory.
Ex:
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“know-do” gap
Def: the gap between what we know from research and what we actually do
implmentation failure
Ex:
Significance: implmentation
generalizability
Def: the extent to which the findings from a particular study apply to broader populations, settings, or situations beyond the specific case or group in that study.
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mechanisms
Def: the disaggregated steps describing how a policy or intervention changes outcomes.
determined based on what is valued (lentils) and what methods of implementation are acessible (access to meds)
helps us determine what conditions must hold to generalize
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average tax rate
Def: the total amount of tax divided by total taxable income.
- Ex: if a household has a taxable income of $100,000 and pays $20,000 in taxes, the average tax rate is 20%.
- measures a household’s overall tax burden, indicating how taxes impact the household’s ability to consume.
Ex:
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marginal tax rate
Def: the tax rate on additional income.
- Ex: if a household earns an extra $10,000 and pays $1,530 in payroll tax and $1,500 in income tax, the marginal tax rate is 30.3 percent.
- Marginal rates influence economic incentives, such as decisions to work more or save, and can reduce the motivation to engage in certain activities.
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tax credit
Def: - a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the amount of taxes owed (by an individual or business).
- directly reduces the tax liability
- either:
(a) refundable (can result in refund if credit exceeds tax owed) or
(b) non-refundable (can only reduce the tax liability to zero)
- Depending on their structure, refundable tax credits can be paid out once a year when taxes are filed, or throughout the year,
Ex: EITC - Earned Income Tax Credit; determined based on income & # of children
Significance: policy formulation
tax expenditure
Def: revenue losses incurred by the government due to tax provisions
- provide special exemptions, deductions, credits, or preferential tax rates (to individuals or businesses) based on criteria.
- Designed to incentivize certain behaviors, such as homeownership or education savings.
- They reduce the amount of resources available to the government, just like government spending.
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in-kind benefits
Def: goods or services provided directly to individuals or households.
meet specific needs, such as food, housing, healthcare, or education.
alternative is cash transfers
Ex: SNAP
Significance:
