Empirically Informed Regulation

78 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2012 Last revised: 14 Feb 2013

See all articles by Cass R. Sunstein

Cass R. Sunstein

Harvard Law School; Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

In recent years, social scientists have been incorporating empirical findings about human behavior into economic models. These findings offer important insights for thinking about regulation and its likely consequences. They also offer some suggestions about the appropriate design of effective, low-cost, choice-preserving approaches to regulatory problems, including disclosure requirements, default rules, and simplification. A general lesson is that small, inexpensive policy initiatives can have large and highly beneficial effects. In the United States, a large number of recent practices and reforms reflect an appreciation of this lesson. They also reflect an understanding of the need to ensure that regulations have strong empirical foundations, both through careful analysis of costs and benefits in advance and through retrospective review of what works and what does not.

Suggested Citation

Sunstein, Cass R., Empirically Informed Regulation (2011). University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 78, No. 4, 2011, Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 13-03, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2128806

Cass R. Sunstein (Contact Author)

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Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

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