Operations management for sustainable development and public policy making

Public policy making often faces challenges in implementation due to a lack of attention to operational realities. Operations management (OM) research, with its strong empirical component and focus on detailed model-based mechanisms, offers unique insights for successful policy execution. This paper explores the synergies between economics, development economics, and OM in addressing public policy implementation, arguing that OM’s process-level understanding, empirical rigor, and focus on operational feasibility can enhance policy design and evaluation. We illustrate this potential through examples from sustainability and social development, demonstrating how OM can bridge the gap between economic policy insights and operational execution.