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What past policies can teach us about making better future policies?

What is it about?

Policymakers often apply lessons from past policies that seemed to work well. But how do we know if a success in one place will really work in another? This article presents a simple model for thinking through that question, and shows why some famous cases (like reducing class sizes in schools or introducing large nutrition programs) failed when transferred to new settings.

Why is it important?

Policies often fail when lessons are taken from one context and applied uncritically to another. Our model helps identify when such reasoning is strong and when it is flawed. This matters because it gives policymakers tools to avoid costly mistakes and to make better use of evidence in shaping future decisions.

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Qianru Wang
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