Command and control regulation: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:29, 7 February 2018

Revision as of 00:51, 3 October 2018

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CAC encompasses a variety of methods. Influencing behaviour through: laws, incentives, threats, contracts and agreements. In CAC, there is a perception of a problem and the solution for its control is developed and subsequently implemented.<ref name="holling">Holling, C., Meffe, G. (1996) Command and Control an the Pathology of Natural Resource Management. "Conservation Biology. 10: 2. pp. 328-337."</ref>

In the case of environmental policy and regulation, the CAC approach strongly relies on the use of standards to ensure the improvements in the quality of the environment. The CAC approach uses three main types of standards. These are ambient standards, emission standards, and technology standards. Although these standards can be used individually, it is also possible to use the standards in combination. In fact, in most pollution control programs, it is the case where there is a combination of standards being implemented. <ref>{{cite book|last1=Field|first1=Barry|last2=Field|first2=Martha|title=Environmental economics: An introduction|date=2017|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education|___location=New York, NY}}</ref>

Although environmental policy has a long history, a proliferation of policy making in this area occurred in the 1970s and continued to today. The CAC approach dominated policy in industrial nations during this decade because the general focus was on that of remedial policies rather than more comprehensive prevention techniques.<ref name="bocher">Bocher, M. (2011) A theorectical framework for explaining the choice of instruments in environmental policy. "Forest Policy and Economics'. Elsevier</ref> Whilst many view CAC negatively, direct regulatory control is still used in many countries' environmental policy.<ref name="bocher"/>

==Enforcement and compliance==

To deliver its objectives, direct regulation must ensure the highest level of compliance possible. This can be achieved through appropriate implementation and enforcement. Non-compliance to CAC regulation presents a serious challenge to its effectiveness <ref name="abbot" /> The manner in which CAC is enforced differs between countries. For example, in the USAUS, some regulators who are tasked with implementing CAC techniques are given rule-making powers. Whereas in the UK, regulatory standards are more commonly set by departments of government. This is achieved through both primary and secondary legislation which is subsequently exacted by regulatory bureaucracies.<ref name="Baldwin"/> Regulation differs within countries as well, in the UK the current regulatory sanctioning system possesses variations between powers and practices among regulators.<ref name="macrory">Macrory, R. (2006) Regulatory Justice: Making Sanctions Effective. ''Final Report''</ref>

Enforcement of CAC often involves the use of uniform sanctions, this can result in small businesses feeling the burdens of regulation more severely than companies of a larger size.<ref name="macrory"/>

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*[[Enforcement]]: This constitutes a very significant dilemma for a CAC regulatory approach. One of the key issues is the expense of enforcement, especially when a complex system of rules has been developed. There are also problems of scope.

Critics of CAC often point to incentive-based regulation as an alternative with terms used such as smart regulation, management-based regulation, responsive regulation and meta-regulation. Possible benefits of this approach may include cheaper administration costs and a reduction in the risk of [[regulatory capture]]. However the view that incentive-based regulation is radically different from CAC has been scrutinised .<ref>FC Simon (2017). Meta-regulation in practice: Beyond normative views of morality and rationality. Routledge</ref>. The advantages can be exaggerated, a complex system of rules is often necessary to allow an effective system, this can cause many incentive-based schemes to appear to replicate some of the characteristics of CAC. Inspection and enforcement may also be essential to prevent evasion of liability, again resembling CAC and possibly removing the posited benefits in terms of cost.<ref name="Baldwin"/> While practices may be changed at a superficial level through the use of CAC, it may not be able to achieve the changes of behaviour necessary for more sustainable environmental practices.<ref name="gandg">Gunningham, N., Grabosky, P. (1998) Smart Regulation: Designing Environmental Policy. USA: Oxford University Press.</ref>

There are some commentators on the topic who prefer to use ‘direct regulatory instrument’ instead of ‘command and control’ instrument because of the negative connotations surrounding the term.<ref name="goulder">Goulder, L., Parry, I. (2008) Instrument Choice in Environmental Policy. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. 2: 2. pp. 152-174.</ref>

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==References==

{{reflist|Field, B. C., & Field, M. K. (2017). Environmental economics: An introduction. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.}}

[[Category:Economics of regulation]]