Responsive Regulation: Transcending the Deregulation Debate

The authors argue that regulation does not have to proceed with an adversarial tone, nor does it have to be "hard" or "soft" to be effective. In considering regulation in such areas as occupational health and safety, the environment, nursing homes, consumer product safety, financial institutions, as well as securities and futures markets, they see the solution in a more creative interplay between state regulation and self-regulation by industry. The authors propose that government enlist what they call "responsive regulation," in which a fruitful combination of advice and sanctions are given to corporations and increased as necessary within an "enforcement pyramid." They also propose the empowerment of public interest groups, institutionalizing their role in the regulatory process. Tripartite regulation, the authors argue, may enable the evolution of cooperation, while preventing the development of harmful capture.