The Choice of Governing Instrument

Abstract

The nature of the constraints under which policy makers choose instruments for advancing political, economic, and social goals, and the factors that determine the degree of substitutability among instruments, are enduring and vital questions for policy makers the world over. This book length study of the choice of governing instrument investigates systematically the following issues: (1) the factors that induce state intervention in social and economic affairs; (2) the perspectives of the central classes of actors in the political process, including politicians, bureaucrats, regulators, interest groups, and the media, on the choice of governing instruments; (3) whether governing instruments are, or at least should be, chosen on the basis of relative technical efficiency; (4) the alternative hypotheses there are as to the calculus of instrument choice; (5) the institutional characteristics of some of the central classes of instruments with a view to identifying those characteristics that are likely to be influential in instrument choice. Among the instruments considered are government-sponsored studies, tax and expenditure instruments, public ownership, and various forms of regulation. The study concludes with some implications of our analysis for regulatory reform writ large.