This paper presents an overview of the recent developments in the evaluation methods of policies. In recent years, the government has conducted a demonstration before establishing a policy. However, the evaluation methods-cross section analysis and time series analysis-that are applied to analyze the results of these demonstrations are outdated and known to be seriously biased. Therefore, this paper recommends that the policies be evaluated experimentally, such as through laboratory experiments and social experiments.

Although road prices, including taxes and various other charges that are levied on road users, have been sources of finance for road construction and maintenance, they have recently been expected to serve as a tool for Transportation Demand Management (TDM). Congestion road tax, for example, has been introduced in several cities, including London, to shift the transportation demand to uncrowded roads or off-peak periods. In order to successfully introduce road pricing, it is important to understand the price elasticity of transportation demand and its effects in alleviating road congestion and environmental burdens. Therefore, social experiments on road pricing are conducted to collect data unique to a particular city.

This study aims to review the road pricing principles, including marginal and average cost pricing, and their policy implications; further, it aims to conduct a case study to compare the purposes and designs of social experiments on road pricing policies in Japan and the United States. Finally, it concludes that experimental design is the key to control pricing conditions and collect individual data of road users' travel behavior in order to effectively evaluate road pricing policies.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new school for Learning Disorder (LD) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) pupils established in Hachioji-shi. The mayor and the Board of Education of this city decided to implement a structural reform program for special districts in order to officially modify the execution procedures based on the Law of School Education. The number of ADD and ADHD pupils at the elementary and middle school levels in Hachioji-shi is on the increase. The policy-making unit observed that this increasing trend can be controlled effectively by staffing the schools with experts. However, such new procedures were constrained by the law and discretionary mandates of the old-fashioned educational regulation before getting the approval for a structural reform program for special districts. This experiment has been made possible solely because of the support of the Koizumi Cabinet's structural reform and the experiences of educational measures cumulatively implemented in Hachioji-shi. This successful trial has been gradually recognized and adopted by many municipalities in Japan.

We discuss the importance of laboratory experiments in markets for policy planning. The effects of an economic policy on the entire economy are investigated by means of comparative statics. This methodology is justified by the stability of the market equilibrium because otherwise, it is not possible to predict effects on the basis of a new equilibrium resulting from a change in a policy variable. Hence, the stability of the market equilibrium should be examined not only theoretically but also experimentally. We present examples of a perfectly competitive equilibrium, which is unstable both theoretically and experimentally, and a monopolistically competitive equilibrium, which is stable theoretically but unstable experimentally.

There has been a paradigm shift from an “experimenting society,” which is guided by evidence produced by successive implementation of primary studies, such as random controlled trials (RCTs), to an “evidence-based society,” which is enlightened by evidence accumulated by secondary studies, such as systematic reviews (SRs). This shift is facilitated by the recognition that SRs can provide evidence with a stronger external, construct, and statistical conclusion validity than single RCTs can. The Campbell Collaboration, an international project that is intended to produce evidence by SRs, is expected to play an important role in this movement toward an evidence-based society.

Two approaches to evidence utilization have thus far been developed in the U.S. In the first approach, practitioners are directed to adopt model programs selected by experts on the basis of the results of RCTs and/or SRs. In the second approach, practitioners are expected to design their programs based on a combination of elements found to be effective by SRs. Since the evidence that is disseminated by the second approach is more robust in various contexts, this appears to be more promising. Finally, the power of policy-makers and the media to influence a practitioner's decision to utilize evidence has been highlighted.

This paper investigates a recent development in evaluation procedures that are mainly related to public-led projects. It provides a brief assessment of the cost-benefit analysis advocated by the Japanese government and focuses on the environmental evaluation as well as its application to public policy. Most projects that are planned and implemented by the local authorities exert some influence or have some external effects on the environment; and occasionally lead to its severe destruction. Accordingly, there should be a proper procedure to evaluate such environmental effects on the project-base. Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) has become an extremely popular method to estimate the environmental value of a project. In this paper, we will provide an overview of the development of the CVM procedures. We will also attempt to describe its effectiveness as well as its problems.

Paris owes its charm as a city consisting of streets and blocks not only to natural development but also to that fact that it has been developed on the basis of specific studies regarding urban space, discussions to review the city structure in successive periods, and urban space strategies to make optimum use of the city's structure.

In Paris, urban space strategies have always served two contradictory functions: the preservation of a historic city and the transformation into a modern city. Strategists have been wavering between opposite concepts, such as ”streets” or ”Haussmannism” and ”blocks” or ”Tissu Urbain.”

In this paper, based on the review of the historic background of Paris, it is indicated that the following specific investigations and discussions on urban space and strategy are effective in developing an attractive city.

1) Initial period: This refers to the beginning of Haussmann's renovation of Paris with regard to streets as well as hygiene related issues.

2) Transition period: This refers to the transition from the period when only the historical city center was recognized as the core of Paris to a point when the city periphery was brought into discussion for the first time in history, not only as a result of intensification of urban problems but also as a possible redevelopment area for urban sprawl.

3) Diversification period: Area characters that had been discovered by the shapes of blocks and lots were also applied to the periphery of the city.