OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook 2015
Regulations are the rules that govern the everyday life of businesses and citizens. They are an essential instrument in the hands of government to promote economic growth, social welfare and environmental protection. However, regulations can also be costly and ineffective in achieving their objectives. The Regulatory Policy Outlook is the first evidence-based analysis of the progress made by countries to improve the way they regulate. Based on a unique survey filled by all OECD countries and the European Commission, the Outlook assesses progress in establishing the conditions for good regulation. It provides unique insights into the organisation and institutional settings in countries to design, enforce and revise regulations. It uncovers the areas of the regulatory cycle that receive too limited attention from policy makers, and identifies actors who have an important part to play to improve the way regulations are developed, implemented and evaluated. It reviews the use of three critical tools of regulatory policy (Regulatory Impact Assessment, stakeholder engagement and ex post evaluation) and proposes options to use them in a more strategic manner to inform the development and delivery of regulations.
Closing the regulatory governance cycle through systematic ex post evaluation
Policy evaluation has become an institutionalised practice in the twentieth century and regulatory policy is no exception. However, evaluation of regulations is mainly carried out ex ante through the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) process while ex post evaluation remains the least developed of the regulatory tools. Country practices remain sporadic in this area. Important lessons can nevertheless be learnt from the application of ex post evaluation in a number of jurisdictions and provide promising opportunities to improve regulatory quality. This chapter defines the rationale for ex post evaluation, describes the possible approaches and their use in practice.