A proposal for measuring the benefits of policy-oriented social science research

This paper addresses the problem of how to measure the benefits of policy-oriented social science research. It argues that social science research promotes economic efficiency in three different ways—it fosters efficiency in the public sector both directly and through effects on the general public, and it increases the efficiency of the private sector. The paper also proposes a practical empirical methodology for measuring the benefits of policy-oriented social science research. The proposed methodology includes a three-stage analysis of a cross-section of countries. The relationship between research and policy is estimated first. Then an estimate is made of the relationship between policy and economic growth. Finally, these estimates are used to deduce the relationship between research and economic growth.