Journal article
The Fels Effect: Responsive Regulation and the Impact of Business Opinions of the ACCC
Christine Parker, V Nielsen
Griffith Law Review | Taylor & Francis | Published : 2011
Abstract
As chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Professor Allan Fels blasted his way into popular consciousness by aggressively using the media to promote noholds- barred enforcement against businesses that breached competition and consumer protection laws. Opinions were sharply divided on the desirability and effectiveness of Allan Felsʼ media approach during his chairmanship of the ACCC. This article argues that opinions of the ʻFels effectʼ were based on two opposed, mono-dimensional theories as to how a regulator should behave: one based on conflict and deterrence and the other on cooperation and voluntary compliance. Responsive regulation theory, however, suggests that r..
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Funding Acknowledgements
Christine Parker is a Professor at the Centre for Regulatory Studies and Law Faculty, Monash University. At the time this article was researched and written, she was an ARC Australian Research Fellow at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. Vibeke Lehmann Nielsen is Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark. The authors wish to thank John Braithwaite and DataCol International (especially Malcolm Mearns) for helping to set up and administer the empirical research on which this article is based. We also thank the ARC for funding this research.