Publications

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Impersonal default rules, chosen by private or public institutions, establish settingsand starting points for countless goods and activities -- cell phones, rental car agreements, computers, savings plans, health insurance, websites, privacy, and much more. Some of these rules do a great deal of good, but others might be poorly chosen, perhaps because those who select them are insufficiently informed, perhaps because they are self-interested, perhaps because one size does not fit all. The existence of heterogeneity argues against impersonal default rules. The obvious alternative to impersonal default rules, of particular interest when individual situations are diverse, is active choosing, by which people are required to make decisions on their own. The choice between impersonal default rules and active choosing depends largely on the costs of decisions and the costs of errors. In complex and unfamiliar areas, impersonal default rules have significant advantages, but where people prefer to choose, and where learning is both feasible and important, active choosing may be best, especially if people’s situations are relevantly dissimilar. At the same time, it is increasingly possible for private and public institutions to produce highly personalized default rules, which reduce the problems with one-size-fits-all defaults. In principle, personalized default rules could be designed for every individual in the relevant population. Collection of the information that would allow accurate personalization might be burdensome and expensive, and might also raise questions about privacy. But at least when choice architects can be trusted, personalized default rules offer almost all of the advantages of active choosing without the disadvantages.

Red tape is not desirable as it impedes business growth. Relief from the administrative burdens that businesses face due to legislation can benefit the whole economy, especially at times of recession. However, recent governmental initiatives aimed at reducing administrative burdens have encountered some success, but also failures. This article compares three national initiatives – in the Netherlands, UK and Italy - aimed at cutting red tape by using the Standard Cost Model. Findings highlight the factors affecting the outcomes of measurement and reduction plans and ways to improve the Standard Cost Model methodology.

A brief, authoritative introduction to field experimentation in the social sciences. Written by two leading experts on experimental methods, this concise text covers the major aspects of experiment design, analysis, and interpretation in clear language. Students learn how to design randomized experiments, analyze the data, and interpret the findings. Beyond the authoritative coverage of the basic methodology, the authors include numerous features to help students achieve a deeper understanding of field experimentation, including rich examples from the social science literature, problem sets and discussions, data sets, and further readings.

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On 22 March 2012, the Council of the OECD adopted the Recommendation of the Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance. The Recommendation is the first international instrument to address regulatory policy, management and governance as a whole-of-government activity that can and should be addressed by sectoral ministries, regulatory and competition agencies. The impact of the financial and fiscal crisis, and of social change and environmental challenges highlight the importance of sound regulatory frameworks as a basic condition for well-functioning markets and societies, protecting the environment and the promotion of economic growth. The Recommendation sets out the measures that Governments can and should take to support the implementation and advancement of systemic regulatory reform to deliver regulations that meet public policy objectives and will have a positive impact on the economy and society. These measures are integrated in a comprehensive policy cycle in which regulations are designed, assessed and evaluated ex ante and ex post, revised and enforced at all levels of government, supported by appropriate institutions. Also available in Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Slovak, and Spanish Many topics such as consultation and citizen engagement, regulatory impact assessment, multi-level coherence, risk and regulation, institutional responsibility for policy coherence and oversight, and the role of regulatory agencies are developed more fully and more practically than in the earlier guidance of the 1995 and 2005 OECD principles. Each of the principles expressed in the Recommendation are recalled and further developed in the Annex to the Recommendation of which it forms an integral part. An appendix provides background notes to each of the principles of the Recommendation to assist the reader to understand the context of the elements in the Recommendation. Together the principles in the Recommendation provide countries with the basis for a comprehensive assessment of the performance of the policies, tools and institutions that underpin the use of efficient and effective regulation to achieve social, environmental and economic goals. Through its work programme, the Regulatory Policy Committee will support countries to implement the principles in the Recommendation.

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