Three Risks, One Solution? Exploring the Relationship between Risk and Regulation

Abstract

The risks at the heart of regulation are most often understood as unwanted by-products of an essentially productive endeavor. They are to be captured and managed through dedicated technical and bureaucratic effort, the preserve of those skilled in the assessment of probability and impact and accomplished in the design of effective-and efficient-regulatory strategies. Yet such a view seriously misunderstands the complexity of risk that regulation must address. When regulation is viewed from a social and organizational vantage point, risks of a more social and political character emerge. This article teases apart three fundamental ideal types of risk inherent in regulatory processes, only one ..