9 - Policy Choice and Evaluation

Summary

In this chapter, we describe the most important policy evaluation criteria that can be used to choose the appropriate mix of energy and climate policy instruments. We give space to economic efficiency, effectiveness, macroeconomic effects, equity, acceptability, enforceability, and administrative practicability. In the second part of the chapter, we present a simple overview of the most important economic models that can be used to estimate the impact of the introduction of energy and climate policy measures, such as applied general equilibrium models and integrated assessment models. Further, we provide a short introduction to some policy evaluation methods such as randomised controlled trials, difference-in-difference, and regression discontinuity designs that can be used to evaluate policy effectiveness.