Regulators as ‘agents’

Power and personality in risk regulation and a role for agent‐based simulation

Bibliographic Data

ID12598226
AuthorsGareth Davies (0000-0003-1316-4488, Cranfield University), G J Davies (0000-0002-7343-776X, Cranfield University), Graham Kendall (0000-0003-2006-5103, University of Nottingham), Emma Soane (0000-0001-6090-1212, London School of Economics and Political Science), Jiawei Li (0000-0001-9801-4715, University of Nottingham), Fiona Charnley (0000-0001-5533-5375, De Montfort University), Simon Pollard (0000-0001-8188-3324, Cranfield University, corresponding author), S J T Pollard (Cranfield University)
Year2010
Volume13
Issue8
Pages961-982
Publication date2010-09-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Risk Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1366-9877 • E-ISSN: 1466-4461
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13669877.2010.486075
OpenAlexW2164286038
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited110

We critically examine how evidence and knowledge are brokered between the various actors (agents) in regulatory decisions on risk. Following a précis of context and regulatory process, we explore the role power and personality might play as evidence is synthesised and used to inform risk decisions, providing a review of the relevant literature from applied psychology, agent‐based simulation and regulatory science. We make a case for the adoption of agent‐based tools for addressing the sufficiency of evidence and resolving uncertainty in regulatory decisions. Referring to other environmental applications of agent‐based decision‐making, we propose how an agent model might represent power structures and personality characteristics with the attending implications for the brokering of regulatory science. This critical review has implications for the structuring of evidence that informs environmental decisions and the personal traits required of modern regulators operating in facilitative regulatory settings

Big Five personality traits · Biology · Business · Context (archaeology · Knowledge management · Personality · Power (physics · Process (computing · Risk analysis (engineering · Structuring · Computer Science · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology · Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research · Regulation and Compliance Studies · Social Psychology