How Do Local Government Officials Perceive and Implement EBPM? Evidence from a cross-municipality survey

In recent years, efforts to promote Evidence-Based Policy Making (EBPM) have gained momentum at both national and local governments in Japan. However, the actual practices remain fragmented and vary significantly in content across municipalities. To realize effective EBPM, it is essential to concretely understand how evidence and EBPM are perceived and implemented within the policy making institutions. We conducted an exploratory analysis based on data collected through a web-based questionnaire survey targeting administrative officials in 21 local governments. We found considerable variation among officials in their understanding of evidence and EBPM, as well as in their engagement with EBPM-related activities. These differences are closely linked to prior experience with EBPM activities. Furthermore, a gap was identified between the types of information considered as “evidence” and the information referenced during policy making. Similarly, discrepancies were observed between conceptual understandings of EBPM and its practical application. Based on these results, we discuss the current status and future challenges of EBPM implementation in local governments.