Quasi-experiments and environmental policy

This paper suggests applying experimental and quasi-experimental approaches to the study of environmental problems. Some important issues in quasi-experimentation are outlined and strategies appropriate for research on collective goods highlighted. Studies both of the demand for various underpriced goods and of programs for changing usage of a collective good are suggested. Questions of causality are treated in some detail. The logic of a new quasi-experimental design, the event-causing design, is presented and compared with that of the interrupted time-series design. Problems of site selection are discussed in terms of the types of projects for which random assignment of sites might be possible. New combinations of experimental and analytical techniques are suggested for improving the quality of research on environmental problems.     

City Managers View Intergovernmental Relations

This report presents the findings of a national survey of citymanagers concerning intergovernmental relations. Key aspectsof intergovernmental relations covered in the survey are theadministration of the grant system, effects of federal grantson local government decisionmaking, types of federal aid, imagesof federal administrators, intergovernmental service agreements,comparison of state and federal government, and city managerinvolvement in intergovernmental relations.     

Policymaking for emerging technology: the case of earthquake prediction

How does a nation formulate policy for a technology not yet quite “ready” but which may nevertheless have to be used? Earthquake prediction illustrates some of the policy issues relevant to this question. Earthquake prediction is a technology that is still in the research and development (R & D) stage. Yet predictions have been made and can be expected in the future. The question for policymakers is, are the predictions “ready enough” to use - do the risks of doing nothing in response to a scientific prediction exceed those of a false alarm? As earthquake prediction represents an emerging technology, it calls for a developing policy framework. What is the nature of “present” developing policy? How did this policy come to be? How adequate is it? What needs to be done? This article attempts to answer such questions, dealing primarily with U.S. policy, but also drawing on the experience of other nations, particularly Japan.