Sowing Seeds of Change Informing Public Policy in the Economic Research Service of USDA (1999) / Chapter Skim
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6 Administration of Research, Information, and Policy Analysis
6 Administration of Research, Information, and Policy Analysis
Pages 116-138
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From page 116... ...
At the same time, the universe of potential suppliers of the services ERS provides has greatly expanded, and several alternatives to a strictly intramural research and information program have emerged. The chapter then goes on to examine what are likely to be important attributes of most of the research, information, and policy analysis services provided by ERS and the prospects for favorable evaluation in these dimensions under different models of administration.
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From page 117... ...
The responsibilities of these individuals included research, economic modeling, market organization, data base design, and the production of secondary data. Today one individual is assigned to each market, with responsibilities limited to indicators, Situation and Outlook reports, and occasional help with staff analyses.
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From page 118... ...
Seventy-five years ago, the BAE was the dominant employer of agricultural economists, and the intramural agency research program was the only model for policy support research. Today, the ERS research program remains almost entirely intramural, but it is one employer of agricultural economists among many, and there are several alternatives to the intramural agency research model.
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From page 119... ...
FAPRI also generates secondary data both indicators and reportssimilar to those provided by ERS. It responds to congressional inquiries with staff analyses in much the same way that ERS reports to the secretary of agriculture.
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From page 120... ...
Professional staff in PAE prepare staff analyses for the DOD secretary, frame questions for intermediate and long-term research, and write and administer research contracts and requests for proposals. There is almost no intramural research.
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From page 121... ...
Timeliness Although timeliness is an important attribute in staff analyses, information, and research, the nature of its importance is quite different in each of these three functions. Staff analyses bring information to bear on very specific policy questions as they arise in real time.
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From page 122... ...
Advisory panels of outside experts and regular contact with foreign counterparts and industry leaders can also play a role in keeping fully abreast of emerging and future policy issues. Determining the appropriate mix of programs in the light of evolving policy questions, budgetary constraints, and available skills is fundamental to maintaining the relevance of research and information programs.
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From page 123... ...
With reference to the models for research and information agencies in support of public economic policy discussed above, this task is regarded as being of singular importance by the managers of ABARE and the PAL office of DOD. Quality The research and information program of an agency in support of public economic policy can be judged by disciplinary and professional standards.
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From page 124... ...
At the other extreme, if agency research meets high standards for quality and relevance and is made public without regard to established political positions, then it will carry considerable weight outside the department and may be used effectively. As a practical matter, this latter situation can be approached only if research meets the standard for timeliness set forth above namely, if it takes place in anticipation of a future policy decision, and its credibility is sealed by public delivery of a report prior to the policy debate.
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From page 125... ...
Against this principle, there are always powerful forces pushing in the direction of a mandated sole-source supply for services. In the public sector, these forces repeatedly manifest themselves in legislation earmarking the creation of a research institute here or a laboratory there, and in rules and institutions that favor continued relations with established suppliers.
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From page 126... ...
Decisions to provide sole-source awards must be defended on a recurring basis, beginning from the presumption that services should be procured competitively. Extended conversations with agency heads and former agency heads revealed three reasons why an agency may decide not to undertake competitive procurement.
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From page 127... ...
In most government procurement, however, this concern is well addressed primarily by felony penalties for insider trading and divulging top secret information, which apply to all individuals whether or not they are federal employees. It is important to emphasize that these three reasons are the only ones agency heads have identified as reasons why a service should not be procured competitively.
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From page 128... ...
Alternative Suppliers of Research and Information Services The evaluation process set forth in Chapter 5, which forms the basis for administration of research, information, and policy analysis services, entails comparison of suppliers and potential suppliers of services with respect to service attributes valued by clients. At the inception of the BAE in 1922, these services could be supplied only by an intramural research agency.
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From page 129... ...
Intramural Research Agency ERS provides research and information almost solely from its staff of about 550 employees, including over 300 professionals.) Other research agencies use a combination of intramural and extramural research this is true even of the National Security Agency, which operates a small extramural research program.
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From page 130... ...
As discussed previously, identifying the research questions relevant to the anticipated policy question requires skill and careful consideration. Agency research administrators often draw on the expertise of agency clients and potential vendors in framing the question.
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From page 131... ...
In general, the evaluation criteria for a research and information agency in support of public economic policy will be quite different from the criteria used by agencies that fund external basic research, including the National Institutes of Health, the Agricultural Research Service, and the National Science Foundation. These agencies tend to emphasize quality with loose restrictions on the area of research, whereas for an agency like ERS the relevance to a specific policy context and timeliness of the work is often critical.
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From page 132... ...
From the late 1920s to 1983, when some ERS professional staff were posted outside Washington, most postings were to land grant institutions. The research and information mandate of ERS, as reflected in Box 5.1, still includes quite a few topics found in the portfolio of the traditional agricultural research establishment, but many other topics financial institutions, nutrition, climate change, auction mechanism design, price indices, food assistance, etc.
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From page 133... ...
Without adequate compensation to the states for their loss of benefits, this will continue. This decentralized model is less applicable to the substantive economic research mandate of ERS in the 1990s and the economic policy questions that will confront the secretary of agriculture or the functional equivalent in the foreseeable future.
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From page 134... ...
Staff analysts must also be closely involved in guiding the ERS research and information program, including the assessment of future policy questions, the framing of questions for investigation, and the organization and supervision of research, because staff analysts are the first line of contact with policy decisions. Thus, leadership in staff analysis requires a sophisticated combination of analytical and management skills.
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From page 135... ...
For instance, with food and nutrition program spending far exceeding government spending on farm price supports, more secondary data and analysis on food consumption patterns and expenditures may prove valuable in examining future changes in food stamp and child nutrition programs. The attributes of these secondary data and information important for policy analysis within USDA and other government agencies and to other clients would then drive the analysis of the question: Should this information be produced internally at ERS, should it be produced by other vendors under contract to ERS (as indicated in Recommendation 6-1)
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From page 136... ...
An arm's length relationship between the sponsor of intermediate and longterm research and the investigation process itself has important ultimate advantages for the sponsor and other policy makers, as well as for the taxpayers who make the work possible. Clear and public framing of the questions for investigation, including perhaps key assumptions to be made, followed by unimpeded skilled scientific investigation, provides the most propitious environment for research in support of informed public economic policy.
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From page 137... ...
Intermediate and long-term research conducted by all vendors, including ERS staff, must be subject to the understanding that their peer-reviewed research findings may be published without prior approval by USDA. As previously discussed, this organization of research requires ERS managers and staff analysts to ensure that their investigators understand the relevant policy questions motivating the research.
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From page 138... ...
Implementing the principle of competition is an important initiative USDA and ERS can undertake in meeting the challenges faced now and in the next decade. The research and information required to support the rapidly widening and challenging policy mandate of USDA cannot be produced to high standards by any single permanent staff of professionals, including ERS.
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