Policy Analysis in Canada: The State of the Art
Business Associations and Policy Analysis in Canada
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- The Extent of Policy Analysis
- Means and Mechanisms of Policy Analysis
- Analytical Focus
- Level of Government
- Issues
- Dissemination of Results
- Conclusions
- Appendix – Policy Analysis Questionnaire
Business Associations and Policy Analysis in CanadaANDREW STRITCHOne of the most outstanding features of political economy in western industrial societies over the last one hundred years or so has been the problematic coexistence of capitalist economies and democratic governments. The uneasy marriage of competing distributive mechanisms – one based on the formal equality of political representation; the other based on the right to unequal ownership of property – is a central problematic of capitalist-democracies. It is thus somewhat surprising that writers on public policy in North America have not paid more attention to the relationship between business and government. In the United States, the paucity of political science writing on this subject has been noted, and lamented, by Graham Wilson,146 while in Canada the literature in this area is also fairly sparse.147 In the context of this overall deficiency, it is hardly surprising that the activities of Canadian business associations in analyzing public policy have not been extensively examined. This is despite commonplace assumptions about the dominance of business over other societal interests in policymaking, and the recognition that information is one of the key resources facilitating inclusion and influence of groups in the policy process. The dependency of proximate policymakers on specialized and technical information from the private sector, especially in areas of economic and industrial policy, gives well-resourced and well-organized groups a potential for agenda-setting and advocacy that is difficult to ignore. Furthermore, this dependency of government officials on private interests is likely to have increased over the last decade as federal and provincial budget cuts have eroded the state’s own capacity for independent policy analysis. Yet despite its potential significance, very little is known about the scope and character of policy analysis by business groups. How much policy analysis is being done, and by what sorts of associations in which economic sectors? How has the extent of this activity changed? To what areas and levels of government do business groups direct most attention? What sorts of issues are important? And what use is made of the results? In an attempt to answer these questions a survey was carried out of the policy analysis functions of Canadian national business associations, and this paper reports and discusses the results of that survey.148 The Extent of Policy AnalysisIn an attempt to assess the extent of policy analysis, national business associations were asked both about the frequency of their analytical activities and about the number of full-time personnel employed in policy analysis functions. On both measures there was a considerable disparity within the business association universe with some groups being heavily committed while others engaged in little or no analytical activity. From figure 1 it can be seen that for over 37 percent of associations policy analysis is something that is conducted on a continuous basis, while at the other end of the spectrum, 23 percent never do any sort of policy analysis. If anything, this latter figure is probably an underestimate as the response rate for groups with little interest in studying government policies is likely to be lower than for those for whom it is a major commitment. Figure 1 Frequency of Policy Analysis
When we look at the number of personnel that each group allocates to policy analysis, a disparate pattern also emerges. As figure 2 illustrates, almost half of the organizations that do some in-house analysis have less than one full-time employee engaged in this function. This could be quite a senior person but someone who also has other responsibilities within the association. Figure 2 Number of Analysts (Groups doing analysis) If we combine the first two categories, 63 percent have the equivalent of one full-time person or less, and when we include the non-analytical groups (Table 1), we are faced with the conclusion that for 72 percent of Canadian national business associations policy analysis is a one-person effort at best. This is perhaps not too surprising given William Coleman’s earlier finding that the majority of Canadian business associations have fairly modest resources and employ only two or three non-clerical people in total who are typically ‘jacks of all trades.’149 Yet, despite this general pattern, there is also a small elite group of business associations that have more considerable analytical resources employing four or more full-time analysts. Table 1 Number of Analysts (All groups)
1) 1 PT 33 37.1 2) 1 FT 10 11.2 3) 2-3 FT 11 12.4 4) 4+ FT 14 15.7 TOTAL 89 100.0 Missing 3 This distribution suggests a hierarchy amongst Canadian business associations with regard to policy analysis, and if we combine the two intercorrelated variables (Frequency and Number of Analysts) into a single measure we can achieve a composite indicator of analytical intensity, as shown in Table 2 150. On this measure, the high end group of ‘super-analysts’ constituting just under 16 percent of the total is juxtaposed with the 64 percent of groups that had a low or nonexistent level of policy analysis. Table 2 Analytical Intensity
1) Low 36 40.4 2) Moderate 18 20.2 3) High 14 15.7 TOTAL 89 100.0
To further investigate these disparities the level of analytical intensity was examined across different economic sectors and for different sizes of enterprise.151 Although the numbers of groups in any particular sector were fairly small, the general pattern was that most sectors contained groups with different intensity levels. To the extent that there were sectoral divisions, a somewhat lower level of policy analysis took place in the sectors for agriculture and food, wood and paper, chemicals and textiles, and construction. At the high intensity levels there was also a fairly widespread distribution across sectors, with a greater prominence of such groups in the two sectors of accommodation/recreation and health. However, the broad picture here is that high and low intensity associations were found in almost all sectors, and that sectoral variations had little impact in accounting for differences in the extent of policy analysis amongst business groups. A different pattern emerged when the effect of size on analytic intensity was examined. Again, the numbers in any particular size category were limited especially after eliminating those associations that represented businesses of all sizes. However, by dichotomizing both variables (small/large size; low/high intensity) significance problems were overcome and a strong positive relationship was revealed. Those associations whose members were larger companies were much more likely to do a lot of regular policy analysis than those groups whose members were predominantly smaller businesses (tau-b = 0.519; P = 0.000). This is fairly predictable given the more extensive resources of large corporations, although it could be argued that such enterprises have less need for trade associations to do policy research precisely because of their own individual capabilities. Such a hypothesis is not supported by the data here, and while large corporations may do more individual policy analysis than small companies, the associations where they dominate are also more active. In order to provide a less static picture, associations were also asked to evaluate how the extent of policy analysis had changed over the last five years. As shown in figure 3, the results are heavily skewed. Of those groups who do some policy analysis, nearly 70 percent reported that this function had become more extensive, while only 4 percent reported a drop. This was true across all intensity levels, but was particularly pronounced amongst the superanalysts where 92 percent reported an increase. Figure 3 Change in Extent of Analysis (Last 5 years) Clearly, policy analysis is an expanding area for Canadian business associations, and one factor that may help to account for this development is budgetary restraint in the public sector. As governments at all levels have cutback over the last ten years or so, resources for policy analysis have been affected along with everything else. When business groups feel that government has lost the capacity to provide full and accurate analysis on important issues, then there is an incentive to redress the deficiency. In so doing, business associations achieve greater control over the research agenda, the nature of the analysis and the results, and ultimately greater influence over the direction of public policy. Government may achieve short-term savings but at the cost of an increasing dependency on business for information and a decline in disinterested policy research. Evert Lindquist has suggested that governments started to rely more on external analysts in the 1980s, partly because new political leaders did not completely trust their public servants but also because of, ‘significant expenditure restraint and delayering of senior management in the public service.’152 Senior policymakers also became more comfortable using outside policy advice as private sector analysts were increasingly drawn from the ranks of former public officials.153 Michael Prince similarly points to a decline in government in-house research activities in the 1980s and 1990s as a result of downsizing, and argues that the policy advice role of departmental officials is now shared with a variety of actors inside and outside of government.154 Other contributors to this volume, such as Donald Abelson and Kimberley Speers, also note the impact of budgetary cuts on government think tanks and policy research capabilities in this period.155 The expansion of policy analysis by business associations over the last five years suggests that the balance between private and public analysis continues to shift, and if this is the case, then we are witnessing a trend towards a growing privatization of policy analysis and a greater empowerment of private sector organizations in the policymaking process. Means and Mechanisms of Policy AnalysisBesides the extent of analytical activity by business associations, very little is known about the techniques of analysis that these groups conduct when they address problems using their own resources. Nor is there much information about the sorts of outside agencies used by business groups when policy analysis is conducted externally. This section briefly examines both of these issues looking firstly at the use of formal analytical techniques such as cost-benefit analysis, and secondly at the importance of linkages between business associations and universities, research councils, consultancy firms, polsters, law firms and other business associations. Cost-benefit analysis and other quantitative techniques are aimed at providing a systematic means of evaluating and comparing alternative policy options. While offering the promise of objective and scientific conclusions they also have a number of shortcomings that serve to limit the utility of such methods. First, it is not always possible to identify all the consequences of different policy options, let alone translate them into monetary values. Second, rational analysis is circumscribed by the normative values of policy participants and the conflicts these engender. Third, rational economic analysis can easily be drowned-out by the exigencies of the political process. And finally, where government is structurally divided, as in federal systems or where there is a separation of powers, rational planning can be difficult to implement.156 Despite these shortcomings, it is still useful for business or other groups to claim that their policy demands are backed by empirical research based on rational analytical techniques. In the United States, cost-benefit analysis is widely used by practicing policy analysts and has been touted as the ‘single most important problem-solving tool in policy work.’157 As shown in figure 4, 42 percent of the Canadian business associations that do some policy analysis claim to have used such techniques in the last two to three years. Given that the explicitness and comprehensiveness of cost-benefit analysis makes it expensive to use,158 we might expect these formal quantitative techniques to be more prevalent amongst groups with greater resources and a more intense commitment to policy analysis. This seems to be corroborated by the survey data where 69 percent of the high intensity groups used CBA or other formal quantitative techniques as opposed to 37 percent of the low intensity analysts. Sixty-two percent of the groups representing mostly larger corporations used these techniques, while this figure was only 14 percent for associations whose members were mostly smaller businesses. Figure 4 Cost-Benefit Analysis
Table 3 Importance of External Agencies for Policy Analysis
Consultancy Firms 63.8 3.6 Polling Firms 19.6 2.4 Law Firms 41.3 3.0 Other Bus. Associations 40.4 3.2 Research Councils 43.5 3.0 Universities 25.5 2.4 Most notably, this table reveals the high degree of importance attached to consultancy firms as mechanisms for policy analysis. These firms offer several advantages for trade associations and other business clients who employ them on a continuing or ad hoc basis. Not only are they sources of specialized expertise in various areas of public policy – sometimes with a specific sectoral focus – they are also specialists in the practice of government relations, normally with established networks of personal contacts in politics and the bureaucracy. For business associations policy analysis is not an academic exercise; it is a pragmatic, results-oriented endeavour aimed at shaping the course of public policy. The use of consultancy firms, whose senior personnel are often drawn from the higher echelons of the public sector, facilitates the practical application of policy research by providing access to key decision-makers and helping business groups navigate the corridors of power. This dovetailing of analysis and access gives consultancy firms an additional utility over some of the other external mechanisms of policy analysis, such as university-based policy research. Consultants are additionally useful for business groups when they have clients who are government departments or agencies. In this role they work both sides of the street simultaneously – advising business clients about influencing government policy at the same time as they advise government policymakers about what to do. As noted by Kimberley Speers, the federal government has become quite porous to this sort of infiltration by management consultants.159 The larger consultancy firms can also deliver two other sets of benefits for business groups. First, these firms sometimes provide a variety of different consultancy functions under one roof, such as polling, public relations and market research in addition to policy analysis and government relations. Business clients can thus benefit from the synergies of ‘one-stop shopping’ for many of their public policy needs. Second, some consultancy firms are international consortia with operations in many different countries, and this allows them to offer services for Canadian business associations whose policy interests transcend national borders. The globalization of business operations puts a premium on policy analysis that is similarly international in scope. Research councils and institutes also feature prominently as useful resources for business associations that used external agencies. Over 43 percent of these business groups reported that such organizations were important or very important. As Donald Abelson reports, the perceived independence of these ‘think tanks’ enhances their credibility while at the same time many have become more extensively oriented towards policy advocacy.160 This combination of attributes makes them attractive vehicles for business associations in the conduct of policy analysis. Another noteworthy finding in Table 3 is that 40 percent of the groups using external agencies considered other business associations to be important or very important in conducting policy analysis. This is significant because it suggests a substantial level of co-operation amongst Canadian business groups in analytical activity despite the fact that the business community is structurally fragmented, particularly in comparison with European countries.161 Although Canadian business associations are institutionally disaggregated, informal mechanisms of co-operation may result in a higher level of integration than is otherwise supposed.
Analytical FocusThe focus of policy analysis by business groups can be divided into two sections. The first looks at where groups direct their attention in terms of federal, provincial and local governments, as well as foreign governments and international organizations. The second examines the sorts of issues that business associations address based on a series of open-ended questions. Level of GovernmentLooking first at the governmental focus, associations were asked to rate the importance of different levels of government for policy analysis on the same five point scale used for Table 3. The percentage reporting in the two highest categories of importance and the mean score are shown in Table 4. These data provide few surprises about the focus of attention for national business groups with federal government policy handily dominating the list. However, 71 percent of the national associations that are engaged in policy analysis put provincial government policy in the highest categories of importance. Table 4 Importance of Levels of Government for Policy Analysis
Municipal governments, not surprisingly, get relatively little attention from national associations although policy at this level does have important implications for some groups – for example, in home building or urban transit. Provincial trade associations may have more activity at this level, but the resources available for any sort of policy analysis are likely to be more restricted amongst subnational groups. At the other end of the local-to-global spectrum, one interesting finding from Table 4 is that over one quarter of the active associations rated foreign governments and international organizations as important or very important. Policy analysis by these groups extends beyond the confines of domestic Canadian politics and has a strong outward-looking, international component. The increasing globalization of economic activity and the closer integration of the North American economy have given international organizations and foreign governments a greater impact on domestic policy outputs, and consequently it is more important for business associations to analyze policy at this level. To a significant extent, policy analysis has become extraterritorial and is likely to become more so. Yet this endeavour poses problems for business groups. To engage in policy analysis at an additional, international, level creates an extra layer of complexity and expense that places new burdens on the association’s personnel. It is not just a matter of examining the policies of other governments and institutions themselves, but also involves analysis of how these policies interact with Canadian and provincial policymaking either as constraints or opportunities. With foreign governments Canadian trade associations are venturing as outsiders onto less familiar territory, with shortcomings for both analysis and advocacy. Moreover, in both bilateral and multilateral forums where government-to-government negotiations are the norm, private groups are one step further removed in the process. Their policy analyses may have some impact on positions taken by Canadian delegations, but these positions do not necessarily carry much weight at the bargaining table and may become subject to various compromises. Rational economic analysis can easily be lost in the give-and-take of international negotiation. IssuesTo get a sense of the substantive focus of policy analysis, Canadian business associations were asked to list the three most important issues on which they had conducted analysis over the last three years. As expected, this yielded a diverse array of topics reflecting the diversity of groups and economic sectors across Canada, but which still permitted some aggregate generalizations. One set of questions concerns the specificity or generality of business group analysis. Are groups focused on narrow, sector-specific or industry-specific issues, or do they analyze broader policies that transcend particular industries and that affect business collectively? In the United States, Kenneth Godwin and Barry Seldon have suggested that trade associations seldom lobby for collective goods beyond their own industry.163 Given that policy analysis is ultimately directed towards policy influence, we might expect the same thing to apply to trade associations’ analytical activities as well as lobbying. But is this true in Canada? The data from this survey suggest a more qualified picture. Many issues mentioned by Canadian associations were clearly specific to a particular industry or sector. These included such things as, insurance industry regulations, food labelling, shipbuilding policy, dairy pricing, building code regulations and broadcasting policy. Other issues – for example, license fees, government price controls and subsidies for research and development – had a more generic appearance. However, when cross-checked with other sources such as association websites, it became evident that the relevant associations were often not interested in fees, price controls and subsidies in general, but in their specific application to that industry. In total, 62 percent of the issues mentioned could be classified as specific to an association’s line of business. Of the remaining 38 percent, there were undoubtedly some issues where the generic-sounding response, e.g. ‘tax issues’ or ‘trade policy,’ masked a more specific focus, but where this could not definitely be determined. Alongside these, were issues that were harder to separate into particular sectoral or industrial components, such as the Kyoto Accord/climate change, payroll taxes and privacy legislation. These policies cover a broad range of industries and suggest that trade associations are interested in both collective goods and private ones depending on the nature of the issue. Several of the industry-specific issues mentioned were fairly narrow and technical – such things as, fuel cell commercialization, office products tendering processes, sleepware flammability rules and natural health product regulations. These sorts of things are important to the industries concerned but they do not normally generate much public interest or media attention. Analysis by the relevant trade associations in these areas is likely to have an advantage in the advocacy process due to the relative paucity of competing perspectives to challenge this specialized expertise. Policy relations with government agencies on these sorts of issues are more likely to be characterized by bureaucratic patron-client linkages than by intense pluralistic competition. Besides looking at the level of issue generality, the survey also permitted an examination of the substantive policy areas that business associations considered to be most important. As can be seen in Table 5 below, taxation led the list with 34.3 percent of groups reporting that tax issues were at least one of the three most important issues over the last few years. There is not too startling given the perennial concern of business with the fiscal burden on the private sector at all levels of government. What is perhaps a little more surprising is the high degree of importance attached to environmental issues, although we must remember that this is a contemporary snapshot that will give a greater priority to currently ‘hot’ topics. Concerning the environment, there are at least two significant issues that have constituted a focus for the attention of business associations over recent years. One is the Kyoto Accord on climate change and greenhouse gases which Canada has ratified and, if enforced, will impose restrictions on many industries. The other is the review of the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, initiated in 2002, on which industry associations were invited to make submissions. Both these initiatives can be credited with encouraging a high level of business analysis on the environment. International trade was another expected priority area for business associations given Canada’s extensive trade dependency and the significance of NAFTA and WTO rules for Canadian industry. Bilateral trade issues have become additionally important since 9/11 with concerns about tightening access at the US border, and this was reflected in some of the recent analysis done by Canadian business groups. Table 5 Top Issue Areas for Groups Doing Policy Analysis
An unforeseen issue that did make it onto the list was that of privacy. A central reason for this is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which came into effect in 2001, and which imposes a variety of regulations and requirements on commercial enterprises concerning the collection, use and disclosure of information about individuals. Originally, this Act applied only to federally regulated industries such as banking, broadcasting, airlines, etc., but from January 2004 it was extended to cover all businesses. The potential costs imposed by PIPEDA across the spectrum of business activity provided a strong incentive for analyzing the implications of this Act. One issue-area where policy analysis by business associations appears to have had a significant impact is in regard to border crossing procedures in the wake of 9/11. In October 2001, a coalition of over 45 business groups and individual companies was formed, known as the Coalition for Secure and Trade-Efficient Borders, which included Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, and several other groups. This coalition analyzed the problems of border access and security and issued three reports recommending policy improvements. The Coalition’s goals have been to make it easier for low-risk goods and individuals to cross the border, as well as strengthening Canadian border management and improving co-operation with the United States against the entry of terrorists, illegal immigrants, contraband, etc. The efforts of this broad business coalition have been instrumental in reinstating and expanding the NEXUS program of preclearance for frequent, low-risk travelers, as well as implementing the FAST system for moving pre-approved goods quickly across the Canada-US border. It is an example of concerted business action across a variety of sectors that goes against the more customary picture of disaggregated activity amongst Canadian business associations and a lack of unity amongst Canada’s business elites.164 This Coalition is also noteworthy for including individual companies, such as General Motors of Canada, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Canadian Pacific, along with trade associations in a collective research and advocacy effort. Another example of such co-operation is in the banking sector where RBC Financial Group has conducted two studies of small business growth in Canada, in conjunction with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Queen’s University Business School. These focused on barriers to growth and made recommendations for changes to tax and regulatory policies. Although it is beyond the scope of this study, large corporations in Canada have the capacity for their own policy analysis, and can be useful partners in collaborative analytical activity with other business organizations. However, an earlier study suggests that this capability is only fulfilled by a minority of top Canadian companies, and that only 34 percent of Financial Post 500 corporations have their own government relations unit.165
Dissemination of ResultsFor business associations, policy analysis has little use unless it is communicated to actors who have a direct or indirect impact on the course of public policy. Even if it is just a matter of the association’s officers referring to the results in meetings with government officials, the message has to get out in some form to policy-relevant constituencies. Consequently, associations were asked whether they circulated the results of their analyses to various groups or organizations, and the responses are shown in Table 6. Table 6 Dissemination of Analyses to Various Constituencies
For the general public and political parties there was also a relatively high percentage of associations that declined to make their analyses available at all. Parties may be central institutions of democracy, but as William Cross points out, in between elections party organizations play little significant role in policy development.166 Given this deficiency it is understandable that business groups would generally give a fairly low priority to these institutions. The fact that many groups still do send the results of their analyses to political parties, at least some of the time, is probably explained by the natural inclination to disseminate favourable results as widely as possible in the hope of having some impact on agenda-setting for the future. Once the analysis has been completed, the additional costs of including parties as recipients would be minimal. As for the public, business analysis can have an effect on policy development by influencing popular opinion, and business groups are generally concerned about managing issues in the public realm. Yet there are several disadvantages here. The impact of public opinion is only indirect; many issues mentioned by business groups are too specialized or technical to generate much public attention – for example, federal capital cost allowances or Canadian pilotage policies for shipping; the costs of reaching a mass audience are more substantial; and there is always a risk of mobilizing opposition. However, when business associations do disseminate their research publicly they tend to do so across a broad front, employing a plurality of media, with the most popular medium being the internet website. When groups go public with their analyses, 92 percent use websites. A final noteworthy finding about the dissemination of results is that over 94 percent of Canadian business groups share their analyses with other business associations, at least some of the time. This reinforces an earlier point that informal mechanisms of integration may help to compensate for the structural fragmentation of business groups in Canada. Linkages between groups in both the conduct and dissemination of policy analysis, as well as other areas of informal co-operation, can serve to moderate the general picture of business disunity. ConclusionsThis survey has tried to provide some basic information about the extent, means, focus and dissemination of policy analysis by Canadian national business associations, about which very little was previously known. The findings here must be taken with a degree of caution given the limited numbers of national trade associations, particularly when responses are broken down by sector. It would also be useful to have more qualitative information about the analytical activities of business groups to supplement the quantitative data. With these caveats in mind, a number of conclusions can be highlighted. There was, first of all, a considerable variation in the extent to which groups engaged in policy analysis. While over 60 percent conduct policy analysis frequently or continuously, a significant minority of 23 percent never do any. Of the analytically active groups, a large proportion devote few human resources to this function – 63 percent of such groups have only one full-time analyst or less. On a composite measure of analytical intensity a picture of a class-structure emerges within the universe of Canadian business associations. Sixty-four percent of the associations have a low level of intensity or conduct no analysis at all, while at the top end of the scale there is an elite group of ‘super-analysts’ comprising about 16 percent of the total, with high levels of activity and resources. This group did more analysis, more often, and were more likely to employ formal quantitative techniques such as cost-benefit analysis. Trade associations representing larger companies were strongly represented in this category. However, for all classes of active groups, policy analysis has become more extensive over the last five years with an aggregate figure of 70 percent reporting an increase. At the same time, policy analysis in the public sector is under pressure from budgetary restrictions, and we may be seeing a shift towards a greater privatization of policy analysis in Canada. Besides relying on their own internal resources, many groups also use external agencies for policy research, including consultancy firms, law firms, polling firms, other business associations, research councils and universities. Consultancy firms were the most important external resource, offering several advantages for business associations, but law firms, research councils and other business associations were all prominent. In particular, the use of other business associations for policy analysis suggests that informal linkages between groups may help to offset the overt structural fragmentation of Canadian trade associations. This was reinforced by similarly close links between groups in the dissemination of policy research. The analytical focus of business groups was also examined, with attention being paid to the relative importance of different levels of government as well as the sorts of issues analyzed. In addition to their focus at the federal level, national business associations also give considerable attention to policy at the provincial level. This accommodates the realities of divided policy authority within Canadian federalism and constitutes a priority that is not always reflected in the academic policy literature. Nor was the international level overlooked, and a sizeable minority of associations gave high priority to analyzing policies of foreign governments and international organizations despite the additional problems involved. Business groups thus showed a sensitivity to both internal and external policy constraints. International concerns were similarly apparent in the issues chosen for analysis with trade and the environment being the two most important areas after taxation. Under the environmental heading the principal concern was with the Kyoto Accord and measures to combat global warming. However, in general, Canadian business associations analyzed a broad array of issues, sometimes reflecting narrow sectoral interests and at other times addressing topics that had a wider impact over a range of different industries. In so doing, they dealt with issues that could be defined as collective goods as well as with more narrowly focused private goods. Finally, the survey examined questions about the dissemination of policy analysis. For business associations policy analysis is intrinsically linked to advocacy, and the dissemination of results is directed towards this end. Other than informing their own members, business groups gave highest priority to circulating results to government officials or legislators where their efforts were more likely to have a direct impact on policy. A lower level of importance was attached to the general public and political parties, but when groups did go public with their analyses they generally employed a range of different media of which the most widely used were internet websites. This survey has tried to provide a variety of information about policy analysis conducted by Canadian business associations which has been an expanding area of activity over the last five years, but which has largely been ignored in the policy studies literature. The findings here constitute a snapshot of the contemporary scene and would benefit from subsequent research over different time-periods in order to get a better sense of how the situation is changing. More information from qualitative studies would also be helpful in corroborating or refuting some of the more speculative aspects of the study, and an examination of other business organizations, such as individual corporate analysis, would provide a useful compliment. These things are, however, beyond the scope of the current paper.
Appendix – Policy Analysis Questionnairennn Canadian Business Associations – Policy Analysis Survey This survey is part of a broader academic research study on the extent and character of policy analysis throughout Canadian government and society. Please see the covering letter for further information. We are interested in the functions of Canadian national business associations in analyzing the content and impact of government policies, whether this involves analysis conducted in-house by the association’s own staff or analysis that is contracted-out to external bodies. Q 1. How often does your association conduct analyses of public policies, either using in-house resources or external agencies? [ ] Never [ ] Occasionally [ ] Frequently [ ] Continuously
[ ] In-house (Skip Q5) [ ] External agencies (Skip Q3 & Q4) [ ] Both Q 3. If some policy analysis is done in-house, how many analysts do you normally have? [ ] One person who also has other responsibilities [ ] One person, full-time (or equivalent) [ ] 2-3 full-time personnel (or equivalent) [ ] 4-5 full-time personnel (or equivalent) [ ] More than 5 full-time personnel (or equivalent) Q 4. Over the last 2 or 3 years has your in-house policy analysis ever included formal quantitative techniques of program evaluation, such as cost-benefit analysis or cost-effectiveness analysis? [ ] Yes
[ ] No Q 5. If you use external resources for some of your policy analysis, how important are the following bodies? (Please circle the appropriate number). Not very Very important important
Polling organizations………………….. 1 2 3 4 5 Law firms……………………………… 1 2 3 4 5 Other business associations…………… 1 2 3 4 5 Research institutes or councils………… 1 2 3 4 5 Universities………………………..…… 1 2 3 4 5 Q 6. Over the last five years would you say that the policy analysis function of your association has become more extensive, less extensive, or stayed about the same? [ ] More extensive [ ] Less extensive [ ] About the same Q 7. How important are the following levels of government as a focus for your policy analysis? (Please circle the appropriate number). Not very Very important important
Provincial government……………………... 1 2 3 4 5 Municipal government……………………... 1 2 3 4 5 Foreign governments………………………. 1 2 3 4 5 International organizations…………………. 1 2 3 4 5
Not very Very important important
Government regulations/orders-in-council… 1 2 3 4 5 Departmental reports or reviews…………… 1 2 3 4 5 Parliamentary committee reports…………... 1 2 3 4 5 Judicial decisions…………………………... 1 2 3 4 5 Commissions of inquiry or task forces……. 1 2 3 4 5 Policies of non-governmental groups…….... 1 2 3 4 5
1. 2. 3. Q 10. On which issue has policy analysis yielded the most satisfactory results for your association? Additional comments (if any): Q 11. We are also interested in how the results of your policy analyses are disseminated. In general, are the results of your analyses circulated to the following groups, or does it depend on the issue? Yes No Depends Directly to the association’s members. [ ] [ ] [ ] Government officials or legislators. [ ] [ ] [ ] The general public. [ ] [ ] [ ] Political parties. [ ] [ ] [ ] Other associations. [ ] [ ] [ ] Additional comments (if any): Q 12. If the results are made available to the general public, which of the following media are used? Yes No
Publications. [ ] [ ] Press releases. [ ] [ ] Speeches by association officers. [ ] [ ] Internet website. [ ] [ ] [ ] Other (please specify):_______________________________ Q 13. In general, which of the following categories best describes the business members of your association? [ ] Mostly small independent businesses. [ ] Small and medium-sized enterprises. [ ] Medium-sized/large companies. [ ] Large national or multinational corporations. [ ] Businesses of all sizes. [ ] Other (please specify):____________________________
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