Evidence for public policy design - How to learn from best practices

The necessity to learn from vicarious experiences is widely diffused above all in the field of innovations in public sector. The rapid diffusion of innovations in different countries has been characterized by a schizophrenic adoption of practices considered ‘best’ and capable to provide the right solution to policy problems. Nevertheless, the replication of innovations has brought to not enthusiastic implementation and in some cases failures. The rapid diffusion in the European countries of the Standard Cost Model, a methodology to measure red tape and improve the quality of regulation, could be used as example. By the comparison of two case studies, the Netherlands and Denmark, the work will develop guidelines for policy makers, practitioners, and policy analysts in order to evaluate the quality of best practices, to understand the reasons of success, and to transfer innovations from a source case to a target case presenting a final appraisal on how to design an effective policy.