Regulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis and Collective Action

Abstract:     
This paper explores the significant role Regulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis (RCBA) plays in facilitating or impeding collective action. Domestically, well constructed RCBAs have facilitated collective action by muting political opposition. RCBAs can of course be manipulated to obstruct collective action or promote inefficient policies. However, the fact that RCBAs require transparency makes those efforts liable to discovery and disclosure, as in the case of the Bush Administration's failed "Clear Skies" initiative. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role RCBA is playing today in structuring international climate change negotiations, substantially determining the bargaining strategies of various parties in accordance with their differential expected costs and benefits.

Keywords: Cost-benefit Analysis, Economic Analysis, Climate Change, EPA, Collective Action

JEL Classifications: C7, D61, D7, H43, K23, K32, K33, Q2

Working Paper Series