Evaluating the Impact of ESRC Economics Centres

The ESRC is seeking to commission an evaluation to assess the impact of three of its major economics research investments on policy makers, practitioners and other groups outside academia. The investments include: the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE), the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP), and the Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC). The overarching aim of the proposed evaluation will be to assess the impact of the work of these three Centres, and the effects of any relevant synergies between the investments.

The evaluation will track forward from the work of the Centres, drawing on researcher and user perspectives and relevant documentation to assess the Centres’ contributions and identify examples of significant and well-documented impact on policy and practice. Where appropriate, the evaluation will then apply a ‘tracking back’ approach to a small number of these examples, to develop an in-depth understanding of the multiple influences on a particular policy, and the significance of the contribution from the ESRC investments in question.

The Evaluation will:

Identify the ways in which the research conducted at the Centres has been utilised and applied by policy makers and practitioners, and other research users.Assess and describe the degree to which the Centres’ research and related activities have contributed to, or influenced the development of policy or practice.Evaluate the processes through which impacts have been generated.Identify and analyse the determinants of the impacts identified (ie why and how impact has been generated).Identify good practice and lessons learned, to support the development of impact generation.Inform the development of methodology for future impact evaluation studies in this area.

To find out more information about the evaluation and to receive a copy of the Evaluation Brief - Reference PS130080 - please contact:

The deadline for submission of bids is 11.00, 24 June 2013.

View the original article here

Evaluating the Business Impact of Social Science: A Study of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships in the Private Sector

We are seeking to commission a small scale study to evaluate the contributions that social science has made to business through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) scheme. The evaluation will provide examples of private sector impact and specific benefits that social science can offer to business.

The Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme is UK-wide and is managed by the Technology Strategy Board and supported by 12 other funding organisations including the ESRC.

The aims of the evaluation are as follows:

Assess the range and nature of social science impacts on the private sector as identified in KTP reports, and highlight examples of good practiceExplore the extent to which Knowledge Transfer Partnerships have facilitated further private sector engagement with social scienceIdentify any further collaboration and impacts that have occurred since the completion of the KTPIdentify and analyse the determinants of the impacts identified (ie why and how impact has been generated)Develop an understanding of the private sector’s appreciation and need for social scienceIdentify good practice and lessons for enhancing the contribution that social scientists can make to the private sectorInform the ESRC’s business engagement activities with a view to maximising future impacts.

Further details and a copy of the full specification are available from the UK Shared Business Services Ltd. Please contact:

The deadline for submission of bids is 11.00 on 10 July 2013.

View the original article here

Evaluating Broad-Based Approaches for Limiting Tax Expenditures

Eric Toder, Joseph Rosenberg, Amanda Eng

This paper evaluates six options to achieve across-the-board reductions to a group of major exclusions and deductions in the income tax: (1) limiting their tax benefit to a maximum percentage of income, (2) imposing a fixed dollar cap, (3) reducing them by fixed-percentage amount, (4) limiting their tax saving to a maximum percentage of their dollar value, (5) replacing them with fixed rate refundable credits, and (6) including them in the base of the existing Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). We discuss issues of design, implementation, and administration, and simulate the revenue, distributional, and incentive effects of the various options.

View the original article here