Abstract
Regulatory impact analyses (RIAs) weigh the benefits of regulations against the burdens they impose and are invaluable tools for informing decision makers.We offer 10 tips for nonspecialist policymakers and interested stakeholders who will be reading RIAs as consumers.
- Core problem: Determine whether the RIA identifies the core problem (compelling public need) the regulation is intended to address.
- Alternatives: Look for an objective, policy-neutral evaluation of the relative merits of reasonable alternatives.
- Baseline: Check whether the RIA presents a reasonable “counterfactual” against which benefits and costs are measured.
- Increments: Evaluate whether totals and averages obscure relevant distinctions and trade-offs.
- Uncertainty: Recognize that all estimates involve uncertainty, and ask what effect key assumptions, data, and models have on those estimates.
- Transparency: Look for transparency and objectivity of analytical inputs.
- Benefits: Examine how projected benefits relate to stated objectives.
- Costs: Understand what costs are included.
- Distribution: Consider how benefits and costs are distributed.
- Symmetrical treatment: Ensure that benefits and costs are presented symmetrically.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 2017
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1017/bca.2017.11
Repository Citation
Dudley, Susan; Belzer, Richard; Blomquist, Glenn C.; Brennan, Timothy; Carrigan, Christopher; Cordes, Joseph; Cox, Louis A.; Fraas, Arthur; Graham, John; Gray, George; Hammitt, James; Krutilla, Kerry; Linquiti, Peter; Lutter, Randall; Mannix, Brian; Shapiro, Stuart; Smith, Anne; Viscusi, W. Kip; and Zerbe, Richard, "Consumer's Guide to Regulatory Impact Analysis: Ten Tips for Being an Informed Policymaker" (2017). Economics Faculty Publications. 5.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/economics_facpub/5
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, v. 8, issue 2, p. 187-204.
© Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2017
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.