List, JohnAl-Ubaydli, OmarSuskind, Dana2024-01-100020-6598http://hdl.handle.net/1885/311312Policymakers are increasingly facing the challenge of scaling empirical insights. This study provides a theoretical lens into the science of how to use science. Through a simple model, we highlight three elements of the scale-up problem: (1) when does evidence become actionable; (2) properties of the population; and (3) properties of the situation. Until these three areas are fully understood, the threats to scalability will render any scaling exercise as particularly vulnerable. Accordingly, our work represents a call for more policy-based evidence, whereby the nature and extent of the various threats to scalability are explored in the original research program.application/pdfen-AU© (2020) by the Economics Department of the University of Pennsylvania and the Osaka University Institute of So-cial and Economic Research Association202010.1111/iere.124762022-09-25