Defining and measuring the types of tools found in policy mixes
The recent literature on the subject has shown some significant efforts
in measuring policy mixes (which can be considered a success). Thus we
can measure the “density” (intended as the number of policy
instruments enacted in a policy mix) and the “intensity” (intended as
the grade of significance/stringency assigned to the adopted policy
instruments) of policy mixes. The research on policy intensity has been
particularly well-developed; starting from the use of expert panels or
media coverage (cite), there has now been a convergence in measuring
policy intensity in terms of focusing on “objectives”, “settings”
and “calibrations” (Knill et al. 2012), and thus assessing the amount
of resources, effort and activities invested in the adopted instruments
(Schaffrin, Sewerin and Seubert 2015). This focus on intensity has
allowed measuring the development of policy dynamics in terms of balance
among different policy instruments as well as change in intensity
(Schimdt and Sewerin 2018).
Other dimensions of policy mixes that can be measured are related to the
way their components (goals, instruments, context) relate to each other;
these include the grade of consistency, coherence and congruency of
mixes (Howlett and Rayner 2017; Rogge Kern and Howlett 2017). However,
empirical research has not yet sufficiently developed with regard to
measuring these characteristics. This can be due also to the fact that
there is still a certain disagreement about the definition of these
concepts especially regarding the semantical difference between
consistency and coherence (Rogge & Reichardt 2016). At the same time,
more empirical research on the effects of the level of coherence,
consistency and congruency of the implementation on the output, and the
outcomes of the policy design would be quite welcome; there is a need to
understand whether and how the interaction between goals and
instruments, old instruments and newly adopted instruments, and
different policy mixes functioning in different policy sectors empirical
research. For this, scholars should try to be less speculative on the
theoretical definitions of terms and find a functional agreement to
develop more empirical research.