An evidence synthesis of the academic responsive regulation literature

~ Jeroen van der Heijden

In 1992, Ayres and Braithwaite published Responsive Regulation. The responsive regulation strategy introduced in the book has become one of the most discussed regulatory strategies in the academic literature (Braithwaite, 2011; Parker, 2013). Yet, it remains unknown:

  • Whether (on average) responsive regulation outperforms the (counterfactual) regulatory strategies it replaces (i.e., traditional government-led command and control regulation, or laissez-fair market competition)
  • Under what circumstances responsive regulation works best.

Synthesizing the empirical knowledge base of the responsive regulation literature may help to fill these knowledge gaps. The aim of this evidence synthesis is to evaluate the effectiveness (and lack thereof) of responsive regulation applied to real-world situations. To this end, this evidence synthesis will answer the following questions:

  1. What is the breadth, purpose and extent of research activity on responsive regulation?
  2. Compared to the (counterfactual) regulatory strategies that responsive regulation replaces (i.e., traditional government-led command and control regulation, or laissez-faire market competition), what is the (average) comparative effectiveness of responsive regulation in achieving regulatory goals?
  3. What are the advantages and limitations of responsive regulation compared to the strategies it replaces (i.e., traditional government-led command and control regulation, or laissez-faire market competition)?
  4. For questions 2 and 3, if heterogeneity is found in studies on responsive regulation: Under what circumstances, in what situations, and for whom does responsive regulation provide better outcomes than the strategies it replaces (i.e., traditional government-led command and control regulation, or laissez-faire market competition)?

The original protocol (17 March 2020) for the evidence synthesis is available here:

Responsive Regulation evidence synthesis – protocol v1Download

A slightly updated version of the protocol (15 May 2020) is available here:

Responsive Regulation Evidence Synthesis – protocol v2Download

The final version of the protocol (another minor update; 3 August 2020) is available here:

Responsive Regulation Evidence Synthesis – protocol v3Download

Published by Jeroen van der Heijden

Professor Jeroen van der Heijden works at the intersection of regulation and governance, with a specific interest in regulatory stewardship and dynamic governance regimes. As Chair in Regulatory Practice at the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, he is involved in world-leading research on regulatory practice and contributes to the training of those involved in regulatory issues. His research is organised around key-innovations in regulatory practice (including the use of behavioural incentives in regulation, regulatory intermediaries, and the resilience of regulatory regimes) and critical policy objectives in New Zealand and elsewhere. This allows him to draw lessons from New Zealand and elsewhere to improve New Zealand regulation and its impact on economic and social performance, and to showcase the state-of-the-art in regulatory practice in New Zealand to the rest of the world. Jeroen is an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University (School of Regulation and Global Governance), and previously held positions at the University of Amsterdam (College of Law), Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management), and Wageningen University (Environmental Policy Group). He has published widely on regulation and governance, including five books and over 70 articles in leading academic journals.

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