9. Conclusion: A call for increased and improved analysis of policy tools and policy mixes
Policy instruments are a highly promising topic of research in public policy, not only for those interested in policy design but for those interesting in policy-making and policy processes as a whole.
There is room for substantial improvement in our knowledge of policies when focusing on policy instruments. There are still many lacunas and gaps that need to be filled and in this paper, we have focussed on those issues we consider crucial in moving policy instrument research forward.
As we have shown, there is much we already know, but much that remains to be studied, some of which needs more empirical research while other topics require more theoretical clarity and scholarly agreement. According to the situation we have presented, policy instruments research has much to offer for improving our understanding on how policies develop and could be better designed. Once this work has been done this approach to studying and understanding public policy-making will be placed on much firmer ground and generate many insights of use to both scholars and practitioners in the field.