Enabling global principle‐based regulation: The case of risk analysis in the Codex Alimentarius

This paper deals with the creation of global principle‐based standards. For such standards to be accepted and effective, particular conditions must be fulfilled. One such condition, little explored, is that standard‐makers and ‐takers share knowledge about the meaning of the principles, as well as the practices through which they are likely to be applied. The paper shows that this condition is fulfilled when transnational cultural systems exist, by means of which both types of actors engage in the explication and representation of their practices so that a common, standard understanding emerges of how principles may be interpreted on the ground and informs the negotiations. A transnational cultural system is a crucial governance infrastructure to set global standards, as shown by the long history of creating a risk analysis guideline by the Codex Alimentarius, the inter‐governmental body for food standards.     

Technical expertise and risk conflict: An institutional study of the British compulsory seat belt debate

Controversy and public conflict seem to be inevitable features of contemporary risk debates. In the face of such disputes, one common response has been to characterise disagreement as a disparity between expert analyses of ‘actual’ risk, and emotional ‘perceptions’ of hazard. This paper uses the example of the British policy debate over compulsory seat belt wear in order to argue that these characterisations are inaccurate and obstructive. Instead, an ‘institutional’ perspective on such issues is advocated - this perspective considers the effect of political and organisational factors in shaping the direction of public debate. The analysis here focuses particularly on expert disagreement over the likely effectiveness of seat belt laws - the debate over ‘risk compensation’ is reviewed both before and after the introduction of seat belt laws as an ‘experimental’ measure.     

社会主义协商民主思想中的制度伦理分析

目前,我国正处于从不完善的民主制向较为完善的民主制过渡的时期,协商民主制度在这样的环境中发挥着重要的协调作用。本文从社会主义协商民主思想中制度伦理的视角出发,分别从两者的相关概念、制度伦理在协商民主思想中的体现以及"善治"对制度伦理和协商民主思想的影响这三个方面来分析阐述协商民主思想与制度伦理的相关性。     

Bureaucratic institutional design: the case of the Italian NHS

We propose a model where a regional government’s choice of the number of bureaucratic agencies operating in a region depends upon the degree of substitutability and complementarity of the bureaucratic services being demanded. We show that, if the government perceives the citizens’ demand as a demand for substitutable services, it will choose provision by two independent agencies. If the government perceives the citizens’ demand as a demand for complementary services, it will choose provision by a single consolidated agency. Exogenous shocks to the number of citizens amplify these incentives. Evidence from the Italian National Health Service (NHS) supports this hypothesis. Results show a positive effect of proxies of substitutable services on the number of regional local health authorities and a negative effect of proxies of complementary services. The major immigration amnesties, taken as shocks to the number of citizens entitled to the service, magnify these effects.     

Industry effects of medical device regulation: the case of diagnostic imaging equipment.

In 1976 Congress passed legislation authorizing the regulation of all medical devices. Some observers predicted that this regulation would have adverse effects on the newly regulated industries. This paper examines the major features of the medical device regulatory program and investigates how the regulation has affected the diagnostic imaging equipment industry. The results indicate that medical device regulation has not materially affected competition or innovation within established product classes in this industry. This suggests that, by choosing methods of regulation that differentiate among levels of potential risk to consumers, the goal of consumer protection can be achieved with fewer undesirable effects on the regulated industry.     

The varieties of banking regulation in the EU: An empirical analysis

The EU strives to harmonize banking regulation, while its member states continue to insist on a degree of differentiation to accommodate national specifics. A new data set of national options and discretions (O&Ds) embedded in EU banking legislation facilitates systematic analysis of member states' policy preferences across multiple policy cycles. Its results suggest that states' O&D choices are related to their respective variety of banking capitalism. Coordinated and liberal market economies choose O&Ds to protect distinct subsets of regulatory parameters delaying full harmonization. Dependent market economies on the Eastern periphery use O&Ds to prevent the outflow of capital from foreign‐owned subsidiaries under their jurisdiction. These deep institutional roots suggest that many O&Ds will be carried over to the upcoming generation of EU banking legislation, despite the increased harmonization pressures in the banking union.     

Bureaucratic incentives, path dependence, and foreign aid: An empirical institutional analysis of irrigation in the Philippines

At least 25 developing countries are embarking on irrigation governance reforms to address the persistent problem of poor irrigation performance. Some scholars suggest that the patterns of construction, deterioration, rehabilitation, and modernization commonly found among irrigation agencies in these countries are rational because of the time inconsistency problem of information. I argue instead, using panel data from the Philippines, that the problem of poor performance is linked to inherent incentive problems faced by public bureaucracies, how these incentives became entrenched in the path dependence of irrigation development, and how these were reinforced by incentives embedded in irrigation aid, particularly by the moral hazard problem and the fungibility of irrigation aid.     

Municipal institutional strengthening and donor coordination: The case of Ecuador

This article analyses the circumstances surrounding municipal institutional reforms in Ecuador which were set in motion through, on the one hand, a link established by external contributors between the financing of infrastructure projects at the local level, and institutional reforms on the other. Credit was only provided to municipalities on the understanding that attempts were made by them to improve their capacity to provide urban services. This approach has enjoyed considerable success to date.     

An assessment of the determination of energy needs: The case of nuclear power

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) forced the Atomic Energy Commission, and subsequently the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to weigh costs and benefits of proposed nuclear power plants. This paper examines how the Commission has developed a framework for decision making in response to the NEPA mandate. Its principal conclusions are that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not interested in being in the business of assessing power needs, and that regulating need by electricity source is counterproductive. If the question of power needs should be addressed at all, the paper argues that a more general framework should be used which would apply to all new facilities. Such a framework would allow a utility to build the plant of its choice, subject to satisfaction of existing regulations, after it is determined that sufficient demand exists.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Quality Laboratory at Caltech. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Conference on the Economics of Nuclear Power Regulation at the Brookings Institution. I wish to thank Roger Noll, James Krier and Gary Miller for their helpful comments. Any remaining errors are solely my responsibility.     

Cultural and institutional determinants of economic growth: A cross-section analysis

Economic growth rates for the period 1968–1987 are analyzed for ninety countries. Culture, political and economic arrangements, and personal freedoms are statistically significant determinants of growth. Personal freedom is shown to be a normal good whose demand might be affected by cultural influences. Democracies raise personal freedoms,ceteris paribus, and, consequently, grow more quickly than non-democratic regimes. Evidence is found for the convergence hypothesis; other things equal, lower income countries grow more rapidly than higher income countries.     

Responsive regulation at the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority: An empirical assessment of assumptions underlying the theory

Responsive regulation usually boils down to the assumption that enforcers should not shift to coercing before it has become clear that persuading does not work. This presupposes that it is possible to determine what the correct enforcement style is, that enforcers can apply the most suitable style, and that enforcers control the negative unintended consequences of their conduct. We have studied the applicability of these presuppositions at the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority by way of observations, interviews, and a survey. The applicability of all three presuppositions has proven problematic; enforcement agents apply different styles in comparable cases; they are impeded in applying the most appropriate style; and they do not control the perverse consequences of their conduct because regulatees tend to perceive it as more coercive than intended by inspectors. Our findings are not unique to this inspectorate and hence raise questions about the applicability of the theory of responsive regulation.     

The diffusion of environmental management standards in Europe and in the United States: An institutional perspective

ISO 14001, released in 1996, provides the basic framework for the establishment of an Environmental Management System (EMS) that can be audited and certified. ISO is not only an acronym for the International Organization for Standardization, but is also a term that refers to its Greek meaning: equal. The main rationale for the creation of ISO 14001 was that its worldwide acceptance should facilitate international trade by harmonizing otherwise diffuse environmental management standards and by providing an internationally accepted blueprint for sustainable development, pollution prevention, and compliance assurance.However, the implementation of ISO 14001 varies significantly across the globe. A significant number of firms have adopted ISO 14001 in Western Europe and Asia. In December 1999, 52% of the 14,106 ISO 14001 certified facilities were located in Western Europe and 36% in Asia. On the contrary, very few American companies have adopted this voluntary standard. U.S. certified facilities accounted for only 4.5% of the total of ISO 14001 certified facilities in the world in December 1999.The U.S. institutional environment seems acting as a deterrent to ISO 14000 adoption as U.S. companies are fearful of the certification process which lays their performance open to public scrutiny. The opposite is true in Europe, where governments have encouraged the adoption of environmental management standards by setting up a trusted certification system and providing technical assistance to potential adopters.This paper offers a conceptual framework to analyze this variation in adoption rates. It is proposed that the regulatory, normative and cognitive aspects of a country's institutional environment greatly impact the costs and potential benefits of ISO 14001 adoption and therefore explain the differences in adoption across countries. The analysis is supported by data collected from a phone questionnaire to 140 firms in Europe and a questionnaire mailed to 152 firms in the U.S.     

An economic theory of economic analysis: the case of the School of Salamanca

Public Choice - The School of Salamanca often is identified as the first economic tradition in the history of the “dismal science”. Its members anticipated principles later developed by...     

Subsidizing the affluent: the case of medical education.

State and federal funds are important sources of revenue for medical schools, and a strong case can be made for public support for these institutions. Although the federal role is more widely known, the states in fact provide the bulk of direct support for medical training. The nature of aid from the two sources differs in significant ways. Most federal aid supports research or patient care, but much of state aid goes to support unconditional tuition subsidies. The primary beneficiaries of these subsidies are relatively affluent nonminority students who are beginning lucrative careers in the medical field--careers that would be lucrative even if no subsidies were provided. Nor does it appear that general subsidies are needed to attract poor and minority applicants. While targeted loans and scholarships to individuals may be justified, general tuition subsidies are not.