Think Tanks’ External Context

Results from Linking Think Tank Performance, Decisions, and Context, a Global Research Project

Results for Development Institute

Washington, D.C.

18-20 February 2015

Elizabeth Brown

Presentation Outline

Research Overview

Context Framework

External Context

Political and Economic, Donor

Intellectual, Civil Society

How We Operationalized External Context

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Main Research Questions and Approaches

1. What is context and how is it measured? Think tank and donor elite interviews

Literature review of context and think tanks

Survey of think tanks

2. How does context effect think tank decision-making and policy effectiveness?

In depth case studies

3. How do think tanks evaluate and respond to context in practice?

Think tank Executive Director interviews

Focus groups

Objective: Explore the relationship between political, economic and social context and think tank strategic behavior and performance

Four Main External Context Factors

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Exogenous Factors

Political and Economic

Donor

Mixed-Exogenous Factors

Intellectual

Civil Society

How Did We Think About and Measure

External Context?

Purpose Examine variation in think tanks’ external operating

context across countries

Audience Global audiences: think tank staff, executive

directors, donors, and scholars

Selecting Indicators Comparability: Widely available, country-level

Commensurability: Consistent, reproducible

Availability: Frequent (annual)

Recognizable: Understood by a broad audience

Example: Measures of Political and

Economic Factors

How Did We Use It?

Impact of context on (3) levels of self-reported outcomes:

1. Policy Discussion/Dialogue

2. Government’s Policy Implementation

3. Policy Adopted by Government

Few significant relationships

Negative, significant correlation of GDP with (3)

Increasingly negative relationship

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Thank You!

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