For evidence-based policymaking (EBPM) to function effectively, it is essential to generate reliable and credible evidence.
In reality, however, incentives exist among government agencies responsible for policies, beneficiaries of those policies, and even researchers to overstate the effects of policy interventions, which can hinder the production of trustworthy evidence (a phenomenon that can be described as the “hijacking of EBPM”).
Impact evaluations conducted by government agencies themselves may be subject to bias, while those outsourced to private think tanks may be influenced by the preferences of the commissioning bodies. As a result, there is a risk that neutral and reliable evaluations may not always be achieved.
Drawing on the experience of countries such as the United States, which are more advanced in EBPM, it is necessary to develop an institutional environment that enables the production of credible evidence.
