The logic of regulatory impact assessment
From evidence to evidential reasoning
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12899681 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kati Rantala (0000-0001-8169-7898), Noora Kristiina Alasuutari (0000-0002-3348-8044), Jaakko Kuorikoski (0000-0001-5676-717X) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 534-550 |
| Publication date | 2023-06-19 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Regulation & Governance (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-5983 • E-ISSN: 1748-5991 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/rego.12542 |
| OpenAlex | W4381337340 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 25 |
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
Argument (complex analysis · Argumentation theory · Argumentative · Deductive reasoning · Economics · Epistemology · Frame problem · Impact assessment · Logical reasoning · Management science · Political science · Schema (genetic algorithms · Computer Science · Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life · Law · Regulation and Compliance Studies · Artificial Intelligence
Evidence-Based Policy
Law enforcement interventions in the Netherlands
Narrating Impact Assessment in the European Union
Does regulatory impact assessment lead to better policy
The production and use of knowledge in regulatory impact assessment – An empirical analysis
Synthesizing Legislative Evaluations
Evidence-based Policy
What is mechanistic evidence, and why do we need it for evidence-based policy
Evidential Variety and Mixed-Methods Research in Social Science
What Counts as Scientific Data? A Relational Framework
Saving the Phenomena
Impact Assessment and the Liberalization of the EU Energy Markets
The many uses of regulatory impact assessment
On the value of formal assessment of uncertainty in regulatory analysis
Regulatory Impact Assessment
Metaphors, models, and analogies in social science and public policy
Occupy the semantic space! Opening up the language of better regulation
The Precautionary Principle and its Policy Implications
Regulating Rule‐Making via Impact Assessment
| Citations per year | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |