A Public Policy Dish on the Private Market Menu

I got an email the other day from a college intern who is working on a project to tie regional capital markets to local businesses that are unable to secure bank loans.

In getting his project off the ground, it was recommended to him that he contact our agency to find out how we go about starting large research projects.

Yes, it's true: I work for a public policy research agency, and am not particularly experienced in the workings of private capital markets.

However, the agency has a 75 year history of addressing (attacking?) any and all research topics handed to us. Can the availability and distribution of private capital be particularly different from the availability and distribution of public resources?

The more I think about it, the more it becomes apparent that the essentials of public policy research are indeed applicable to private market. At least, when applied with a broad paintbrush.

Here's what I told him he should do:

Because we’re a government agency that works with public policy and legal issues, our way of conducting research might differ from how you’d do it in the private capital market sector. For one thing, we frequently work with volunteer advisors who dontate their time and resources...

...there are some basic steps we follow.

1. We assign a project manager who directs and coordinates the staff work.
2. The project manager comes up with a work plan, or an outline, that will meet the objectives of the assignment (i.e., the resolution).
3. The project manager divides the work among the staff—because we’re a small agency, there are usually no more than three people on a project, including the project manager. If there’s going to be a lot of data involved, there will be someone assigned to gather data and work with it to make it usable. We’ll look at the data from different perspectives, create tables, charts, etc.

I think this might be where you’re looking for some pointers. The first step is to identify your focus as clearly as possible, then find as many relevant data sources as possible. Because we do public policy work, there are usually (not always) existing public databases that we can access. For example, the CDC has tons of health data on its websites. The Census Bureau has a huge amount of data that are publicly available. Some databases are open to the public but charge fees. Some databases are not publicly accessible, but since we’re a state agency, we can usually get access.

If I were to research regional capital markets and small businesses, I’d look at the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers, the Federal Reserve Banks, the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development, Pennsylvania Industrial Development Corporations, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, regional Chambers of Commerce, and Councils of Government from around the state. Each of these can probably give you leads to the next step along the way. Also, there are a lot of public policy organizations that are involved in local and regional economic development. The Pennsylvania Economy League, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development are two of the larger ones. I think if you were to survey areas around the state where the economy is in poor shape, you’ll find a regional or local development group that’s interested in what you’re doing.

I’d search places like these and see what data they have, and contact them to find out who would be able to answer questions, not just about the data, but also tap them for advice, ideas, recommendations on how to solve the issues you’re working with. I’ve found that the people who are experts in their fields are a) good at communicating their expertise, and b) are eager to share their expertise. If you get several of them, they might agree to teleconference together on the topic.

Another important point: chances are, someone else has already written a report/white paper/study about regional capital markets. The Federal Reserve Banks publish regular journals on a variety of topics, which probably include articles on what you’re looking for. University websites will link to journals and articles written by professors. If you have access to the research databases like AccessPA, EBSCO (probably through the college library) you should definitely check for journal articles on regional capital markets.

We almost always do a review of what other states are doing in the topic area we’re studying. The first step would be to identify states with similar profiles. Usually, these are the same states, regardless of what you’re studying: New York, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey. (in other words, Rust Belt states). Their state government websites might have links to state agencies that are interested in regional markets and business development.

Thus, as I responded and pondered the responding, I was reminded that we're experts in building research projects, in building groups of experts, and in communicating the experts' advice and recommendations.

Is the private market world really so different that what we "bring to the table" wouldn't fit the menu?