Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T06:21:22.640Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regulatory interpretation: regulators, regulated parties, and the courts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2017

Gregory M. Randolph  and
James P. Fetzner
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

While regulators, firms, and the courts must all be able to interpret regulations to best address economic and social issues, regulatory interpretation may vary greatly across parties. After introducing a framework to explain the impact of the complexity of written regulations and the complexity of the regulatory environment on regulatory interpretation, this paper utilizes regulatory examples to explore the challenges associated with regulatory interpretation. Several recent initiatives designed to improve regulatory efficacy are examined to assess potential methods available to reduce challenges associated with regulatory interpretation. When considered with the public policy implementation literature and research on networks in public policy, several implications emerge from the consideration of regulatory interpretation and recent regulatory initiatives. Regulators should pursue strategies to minimize the number of possible interpretations in the design of regulation and seek improved regulatory mechanisms to alleviate regulatory interpretation challenges. Furthermore, theoretical models should acknowledge regulatory interpretation to better assist in the design and implementation of regulation.

Keywords

regulationpublic policyL51H11
Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 301 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2017 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 2001–12. Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics. Accessed on 15 July 2016. www.uscourts.gov/statistics.aspx.Google Scholar
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. 2011. Judicial Business. Accessed on 15 July 2016. http://www.uscourts.gov/statistics-reports/federal-judicial-caseload-statistics-2011.Google Scholar
Administrative Procedures Act. 1946. Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 551–559).Google Scholar
Al-Ubaydli, Omar and McLaughlin, Patrick. 2015. “RegData: A Numerical Database on Indistry-Specific Regulation for All U.S. Industries and Federal Regulations.” Regulation & Governance doi: 10.1111/rego.12107.Google Scholar
Baron, David P. and Myerson, Roger B.. 1982. “Regulating a Monopolist with Unknown Costs.” Econometrica 50 (4): 911–30.Google Scholar
Bennear, Lori S. and Coglianese, Cary. 2012. “The Performance of Regulatory Standards.” RegBlog. Accessed on 15 July 2016. http://www.regblog.org/2012/05/08/the-performance-of-performance-standards/.Google Scholar
Berry, Frances S., Brower, Ralph S., Choi, Sang O., Goa, Wendy X., Jang, HeSoun, Kwon, Myungjung, and Word, Jessica. 2004. “Three Traditions of Network Research: What the Public Management Research Agenda Can Learn from Other Research Communities.” Public Administration Review 64 (5): 539–52.Google Scholar
Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2017. Gross-Domestic-Product-(GDP)-by-Industry-Data. Accessed on 16 September 2017. https://www.bea.gov/industry/gdpbyind_data.htm.Google Scholar
Casey, Kathleen L. 2011. “The Challenges of Implementing the Dodd-Frank Act. Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation.” Accessed on 11 July 2016. https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2011/08/19/the-challenges-of-implementing-the-dodd-frank-act/.Google Scholar
Center for Plain Language. 2013–17. Federal Plain Language Report Card. Accessed on 21 June 2017. http://centerforplainlanguage.org/reports/federal-report-card/.Google Scholar
Crew, Michael A. and Kleindorfer, Paul R.. 2002. “Regulatory Economics: 20 Years of Progress?” Journal of Regulatory Economics 21: 5–22.Google Scholar
Crew, Michael A. and Kleindorfer, Paul R.. 2012. “Regulatory Economics and the Journal of Regulatory Economics: A 30-year Retrospective.” Journal of Regulatory Economics 41: 1–18.Google Scholar
De Toni, Alberto F., Nardini, Alessio, Nonino, Fabio, and Zanutto, Gianluca. 2005. “Complexity Measures in Manufacturing Systems.” In Proceedings of the European Conference on Complex Systems: Towards a Science of Complex Systems. Internationale Universitaire: Paris, 1–20. Accessed on 12 August 2017. https://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~nonino/Publications/CI3.pdf.Google Scholar
Dudley, Susan and Warren, Melinda. 2013. “Sequester's Impact on Regulatory Agencies Modest: An Analysis of the U.S. Budget for Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014.” 2014 Annual Report, Regulator's Budget Report 35. Weidenbaum Center, Washington University and Regulatory Studies Center, George Washington University.Google Scholar
Executive Order 13563, 3 C.F.R. § 3821. 2011.Google Scholar
Executive Order 13579, 3 C.F.R. § 41587. 2011.Google Scholar
Executive Order 13601, 3 C.F.R. § 28469. 2012.Google Scholar
Frizelle, Gerry and Woodcock, E. 1995. “Measuring Complexity as an Aid to Developing Operational Strategy.” International Journal of Operations & Production Management 15 (5): 26–39.Google Scholar
Mayer, Frederick and Gereffi, Gary. 2010. “Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance.” Business and Politics 12 (3): Article 11.Google Scholar
Food and Drug. 21 C.F.R. § 1–1499.Google Scholar
Gennaioli, Nicola and Shleifer, Andrei. 2007. “Overruling and the Instability of Law.” Journal of Comparative Economics 35 (2): 309–28.Google Scholar
Georgosouli, Andromachi. 2010. “Regulatory Interpretation: Conversational of Constructive?” Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 30 (2): 261–384.Google Scholar
Glaeser, Edward D. and Shleifer, Andrei. 2001. “A Reason for Quantity Regulation.” The American Economic Review 91 (2): 431–35.Google Scholar
Laffont, Jean-Jacques and Tirole, Jean. 1993. Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press.Google Scholar
Matland, Richard E. 1995. “Syntehsizing the Implementation Literature: The Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Policy Implementation.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 5 (2): 145–74.Google Scholar
McLaughlin, Patrick and Sherouse, Oliver. 2015. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Mercatus Center at George Mason. Accessed on 15 July 2016. https://www.mercatus.org/publication/food-and-drug-administration-and-federal-food-drug-and-cosmetic-act.Google Scholar
Naughton, Keith, Schmid, Celeste, Yackee, Susan W., and Zhan, Xueyong. 2009. “Understanding Commenter Influence During Agency Rule Development.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Risk Management 28 (2): 258–77.Google Scholar
Office of Management and Budget. 2014. 2014 Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Agency Compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Accessed on 23 May 2016. http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/2014_cb/draft_2014_cost_benefit_report-updated.pdf.Google Scholar
Office of the Federal Register. 2012. Federal Register. Pages Published Annually. Accessed on 23 May 2016. https://www.federalregister.gov/.Google Scholar
O'Toole, Lawrence J. Jr. 2000. “Research on Policy Implementation: Assessment and Prospects.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10 (2): 263–88.Google Scholar
Pennsylvania Department of Health. 2013. Survey Guidelines: Home Health 28 Pa. Code §601.31, Acceptance of Patients, Plan of Treatment and Medical Supervision. (d)Conformance with Physician Orders.Google Scholar
Plain Writing Act of 2010, 5 U.S.C. §§ 301.Google Scholar
Plan of Care Requirements. 2009. 42 C.F.R. § 409.43.Google Scholar
Randolph, Gregory M. and Fetzner, James. 2016. “The Impact of Regulatory Accumulation on the Courts.” Journal of Institutional Economics 12 (4): 921–40.Google Scholar
Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017. H.R. 5, 118th Cong. 2017.Google Scholar
Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017. H.R. 26, 118th Cong. 2017.Google Scholar
Rules and Regulations for Home Health Care Agencies. 1992. 28 Pa. Code, Part IV, Health Facilities, Subpart F § 601.31.Google Scholar
Saetren, Harald. 2005. “Facts and Myths about Research on Public Policy Implementation: Out-of-Fashion, Allegedly Dead, but Still Very Much Alive and Relevant.” Policy Studies Journal 33 (4): 559–82.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Stuart. 2008. “Does the Amount of Participation Matter? Public Comments, Agency Responses, and the Time to Finalize a Regulation.” Policy Sciences 41 (1): 33–49.Google Scholar
Shleifer, Andrei. 2005. “Understanding Regulation.” European Financial Management 11 (4): 439–51.Google Scholar
Shleifer, Andrei. 2011. “Efficient Regulation.” In Regulation vs. Litigation: Perspectives from Economics and Law edited by Kessler, Daniel. Chicago, IL: NBER and University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sprague, Shawn. May 2014. “What Can Labor Productivity Tell Us About the U.S. Economy?” Bureau of Labor Statistics, Beyond the Numbers 3 (12).Google Scholar
Stack, Kevin M. 2012. “Interpreting Regulations.” Michigan Law Review 111 (3).Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. 2014. “The Regulatory Lookback.” Boston Law Review 94: 579–602.Google Scholar
Sunstein, Cass R. 2017. “A Regulatory Reform Bill that Everyone Should Like.” Bloomberg. Accessed on 25 June 2017. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-06-22/a-regulatory-reform-bill-that-everyone-should-like.Google Scholar
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2013. Wild Bird Conservation Act: Summary of Regulation and Effects. Accessed on 15 July 2016. http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/factsheet-wild-bird-conservation-act-summary-of-effects-2013.pdf.Google Scholar
Wall, Larry D. 2014. “Simple Concept, Complex Regulation.” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Notes from the Vault. Accessed on 23 May 2016. https://www.frbatlanta.org/cenfis/publications/notesfromthevault/1401.aspx/.Google Scholar
Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. 2010. 12 C.F.R. § 5301–5641.Google Scholar
Wild Bird Conservation Act. 1992. 50 C.F.R. § 15.1–15.53.Google Scholar
Zwyicki, Todd. 2003. “The Rise and Fall of Efficiency in the Common Law: A Supply-Side Analysis.” Northwestern Law Review 97: 1,551–633.Google Scholar