Economists and statisticians can be particularly useful in public policy projects as numerous factors make these studies complex.

 

Economists and statisticians provide insight into these complexities including:

• Untangling multiple funding sources for programs that include tax revenue, federal grants, fees/licenses, etc.

• Identify funding that is highly dependent upon the fluctuations in the economy;

• Service-oriented and/or non-tangible outcomes as opposed to for-profit motivation;

• Limitations on the type and nature of expenditures;

• Special focus on identifying unintended consequences and long-term economic impacts of decisions;

• Use of more than descriptive statistics; i.e., develop models allowing for inferential statistics.

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