The "Compliance" Trap

The Moral Message in Responsive Regulatory Enforcement

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4085274
AutoresChristine Parker (0000-0002-7397-6341)
Año2006
Volumen40
Número3
Páginas591-622
Fecha de publicación2006-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLaw & Society Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0023-9216 • E-ISSN: 1540-5893
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1540-5893.2006.00274.x
OpenAlexW3122222283
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas53
Referencias citadas42

Simple deterrence will often fail to produce compliance commitment because it does not directly address business perceptions of the morality of regulated behavior. Responsive regulation, by contrast, seeks to build moral commitment to compliance with the law. This article shows that a regulator can overcome the deterrence trap to improve compliance commitment with the skillful use of responsive regulatory techniques that "leverage" the deterrence impact of its enforcement strategies with moral judgments. But this leads it into the "compliance trap." The compliance trap occurs where there is a lack of political support for the moral seriousness of the law it must enforce, such as is the case with cartel enforcement in Australia. In these circumstances, business offenders are likely to interpret the moral leveraging of responsive regulation as unfair or stigmatizing, and business perceptions of regulator unfairness are likely to have a negative influence on long-term compliance with the law. Moreover, big businesses that perceive regulatory enforcement as illegitimate are also likely to actively lobby for the political emasculation of the regulator. In these circumstances, most regulators are likely to avoid conflict by taking the easy option of enforcing the law "softly," and therefore ineffectively

Business · Compliance (psychology · Deterrence (psychology · Deterrence theory · Economics · Enforcement · Law and economics · Law enforcement · Leverage (statistics · Political science · Seriousness · Law · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Psychology · Regulation and Compliance Studies · Social Psychology · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses