Not Entirely Reliable: Private Scientific Organizations and Risk Regulation – The Case of Electromagnetic Fields

Abstract

Private scientific organizations exert a great deal of influence in the regulation of some technological risks. The high level of expertise of their members is arguably a good reason for them to participate in making and monitoring risk regulations, in order to adjust these to scientific progress. Nevertheless, there are also sound reasons why governments shouldn’t uncritically follow the views expressed by such organizations. Taking the role played by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection in the regulation of electromagnetic fields as an illustrative example, this paper shows that private scientific organizations such as these are structurally less well suited than democratic authorities when it comes to managing those risks.

Keywords: Risk Assessment, Precautionary Principle, Scientific Organizations, Electromagnetic Fields, Cognitive Biases of Experts

JEL Classification: K32, K81