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Regulatory Impact Assessment

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Definition

If regulation is often perceived as a tool to increase welfare, it is not infrequent that it leads to unintended consequences; examples are numerous. Regulatory impact assessment is a document, in theory, written before a contemplated regulation is adopted, assessing the probable consequences of the regulation for the economy. The type of consequences considered is often determined by the document creating the obligation to engage in regulatory impact assessment. The purpose of regulatory impact assessment is precisely to help political decision-makers to identify whether and how to regulate while also defining a conception of the public interest that could then be debated.

Introduction

If regulation is often perceived as a tool to increase welfare, it is not infrequent that it leads to unintended consequences; examples are numerous. After all, regulating in an evolving world of inherent complexity (and interdependence between economies) and uncertainty is not an easy task;...

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Correspondence to Régis Lanneau .

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Lanneau, R. (2021). Regulatory Impact Assessment. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_649-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_649-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Regulatory Impact Assessment
    Published:
    08 June 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_649-2

  2. Original

    Regulatory Impact Assessment
    Published:
    15 November 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_649-1