Consumer’s Guide to Regulatory Impact Analysis: Ten Tips for Being an Informed Policymaker

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.1.Core problem: Determine whether the RIA identifies the core problem (compelling public need) the regulation is intended to address.2.Alternatives: Look for an objective, policy-neutral evaluation of the relative merits of reasonable alternatives.3.Baseline: Check whether the RIA presents a reasonable “counterfactual” against which benefits and costs are measured.4.Increments: Evaluate whether totals and averages obscure relevant distinctions and trade-offs.5.Uncertainty: Recognize that all estimates involve uncertainty, and ask what effect key assumptions, data, and models have on those estimates.6.Transparency: Look for transparency and objectivity of analytical inputs.7.Benefits: Examine how projected benefits relate to stated objectives.8.Costs: Understand what costs are included.9.Distribution: Consider how benefits and costs are distributed.10.Symmetrical treatment: Ensure that benefits and costs are presented symmetrically.

Benefit-Cost Analysis in EU Chemicals Legislation: Experiences from over 100 REACH Applications for Authorisation

“…This said, the issues observed are common not only among REACH applicants, but among BCA practitioners in general. 13 Despite the differences in regulatory culture between the United States and the EU and the specific policy context of our study, we believe that the pointsDudley et al (2017) highlight are pertinent. This is because the REACH authorisation regime makes a sharp distinction between the scientific opinion on an application for authorisation which shall be fact-based (and are hence not very different from the regulatory setup in the United States) and the final decision made by the EU Commission and Member States, wherein policy considerations outside the remit of BCA may come into play.…”

“…Whilst a small number of applications (for very specific uses) have been made "textbook perfect", some methodological issues have appeared over and again in BCAs submitted as part of applications for REACH authorisation. 12 In order to describe these issues in a structured way we adapt the ten points that Dudley et al (2017) suggest in their Consumer's Guide to Regulatory Impact Analysis to our context, and give illustrative examples for problems encountered under each point. 13…”

Application of BCA in Europe – Experiences and Challenges

“…The main part of the article provides an in-depth discussion of how BCA has been implemented under the REACH authorization regime to date. The authors structure their discussion based on the points for regulatory impact analysis recently suggested by Dudley et al (2017). For each point they provide examples of problems encountered in the review process.…”

Some Pitfalls of Practical Benefit-Cost Analysis

“…For a look at the problems of practical benefit-cost analysis from the standpoint of decision makers and consumers of analyses, seeDudley et al (2017).terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/bca.2018.18Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core.…”