The logic of regulatory impact assessment: From evidence to evidential reasoning

Abstract

Agencies involved in generating regulatory policies promote evidence‐based regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) to improve the predictability of regulation and develop informed policy. Here, we analyze the epistemic foundations of RIAs. We frame RIA as reasoning that connects various types of knowledge to inferences about the future. Drawing on Stephen Toulmin's model of argumentation, we situate deductive and inductive reasoning steps within a schema we call the impact argument. This approach helps us identify inherent uncertainties in RIAs, and their location in different types of reasoning. We illustrate the theoretical section with impact assessments of two recent legislative proposals produced by the European Commission. We argue that the concept of “evidence‐based regulatory impact assessment” is misleading and should be based on the notion of “regulatory impact assessment as evidential reasoning,” which better recognizes its processual and argumentative nature.

Behavioural Analysis and Regulatory Impact Assessment

“…58 To begin, our analysis can be used by regulatory oversight bodies who assist agencies and departments in learning about RIA's effectiveness. 61 This also aligns within a broader discussion being held within international organisations 62 and the academic community 63 about the need to critically revisit the "better regulation" agenda more broadly, with a focus on addressing implementation gaps in the toolbox and developing what the OECD has coined as "regulatory policy 2.0". 64 Two elements will need further attention: first, all of the specific points we made about behavioural drivers require a deeper empirical understanding 65 on their own before designing solutions for a given country or sector.…”