Is expenditure enough? On the nature of the dependent variable in comparative public policy analysis

This paper offers a methodological critique of comparative policy outcome studies which base their conclusions exclusively on variance in public expenditures.Using examples drawn from the field of social policy in Australia, Finland, Singapore and Scandinavia, it argues that undue reliance on state expenditure necessarily leads to a distorted understanding of outcomes.This is because spending is generally only one of several routes to a given policy objective and because different countries employ quite different mixes of policy instruments to achieve similar policy goals.