Award Title: Centre for Market and Public Organisation to Centre for Evidence-based Public Services
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: The main objective of the Centre is to improve the design of public policy interventions and the delivery of public services.

Within this, the Centre aims to:
- Develop and implement cutting-edge quantitative methods in the area of public policy analysis
- Take an interdisciplinary approach in exploiting innovative data 
- Deliver impact on policy and inform public debate
- Develop research capacity by training new cohorts of quantitative researchers

The Centre will focus on public policy within four interlinked research themes, plus one over-arching theme on quantitative methods and data development. These are:
A) Public services provision and the design of welfare systems
B) Education policy
C) Health and economic outcomes
D) Urban, transport and environmental policy
Cross-cutting theme: Data development and econometric methods

The objective with regard to Legacy Centre funding is to ensure that our research is translated into policy and user impact within each research theme. Examples are:
A) Improving the design of unemployment insurance systems and childcare and parental leave policies. Improving policy-maker and public understanding of the costs and benefits of zero-hours contracts. Improving the design of welfare systems and labour market interventions in low and middle-income countries.
B) Improving the evidence base to inform the design of teacher pay schemes, and mechanisms to allocate pupils to schools. Improving school attendance in a low-income country setting using a cost-effective incentive programme.
C) Helping policy makers understand the drivers of individuals' dietary choices and how it might be possible to influence behaviour. Providing evidence on the factors influencing contraceptive take-up in a low-income country.
D) Increasing understanding of who wins and who loses from transport investment projects, to better inform cost-benefit evaluations. Inform regulatory and competition policy, and airport business models by increasing understanding of how both the airline-side and the retail-side of airports work in tandem.

Lay Abstract: The Centre addresses research questions covering the provision of public services - education, healthcare and welfare provision, and public policy more broadly. It takes an interdisciplinary approach and its focus is strongly international, analysing policy reforms in the UK and wider Europe, and placing increased focus on public policy in developing economies. 

The main areas in which we work are:
A) Public services provision and the design of welfare systems
B) Education policy
C) Health and economic outcomes
D) Urban, transport and environmental policy
In addition, a cross-cutting theme covers data development and econometric methods.

Our aim is to provide robust quantitative evidence that is directly useful in policy design, and to advance academic knowledge in these areas. Our approach combines cutting-edge empirical techniques, the development of new data and the leveraging of existing administrative data to better understand how individuals and organisations respond to changes in the policy environment. We aim to use these findings to improve government policy making and advance understanding of individual and firm behaviour.

The main activities that we propose to carry out under the Legacy Centre Funding aim to translate our research into policy impact, and to inform the public debate around the effects of government policies and public spending.

Research Activity Codes: 3.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (PREVENTION);8.5 RESOURCES AND INFRASTRUCTURE (HEALTH SERVICES)
Health Categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE