Regulation University

Regulation University is a series of educational programs designed for congressional staff to provide the skills and information essential to regulatory oversight and to understand the legal and institutional framework that produces and supports federal regulation.

Research

Beware the Surge of Midnight Regulations Sherzod Abdukadirov \| Jul 17, 2012 Administrations face fewer political constraints during the midnight period and, thus, take the opportunity to impose their policy preferences. These rushed, politically motivated regulations have poor quality analysis and face less stringent oversight from OIRA. Stemming the surge of midnight regulations requires comprehensive reform to constrain agencies’ ability to issue too many regulations and improve OIRA’s ability to oversee regulatory quality during the midnight period.	The Role of Retrospective Analysis and Review in Regulatory Policy Randall Lutter \| Apr 18, 2012 There are many obstacles to better regulatory measurement, analysis and review. But major setbacks include the agencies’ lack of impartiality in reviewing their existing regulations, an inappropriately narrow focus, and a failure to promote steps to better measure the actual benefits vs. the costs of regulations.
Is There a Market Failure In Cybersecurity? Eli Dourado, Jerry Brito \| Mar 06, 2012 Like gardens, the Internet developed without government intervention. Unnecessary regulation could break down the norms and practices that caused the Internet flourish in the first place.	Regulatory Alternatives James Broughel, Jerry Ellig \| Feb 21, 2012 This Mercatus on Policy shows how regulatory process reforms should require agencies to thoroughly analyze alternatives and publish that analysis for public comment before they propose a regulation.
The Law and Economics of Shareholder Voting Reform and the Costs of Proxy Access Thomas Stratmann, J. W. Verret \| Jan 17, 2012 The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 gave the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the authority to adopt a proxy access rule. Though the legislation urged an exemption for companies with less than $75 million in market capitalization, the SEC unexpectedly failed to provide a permanent exemption from the rule for those companies. This paper finds that, for the roughly 900 publicly traded companies studied with under $75 million in market capitalization, the proxy access rule caused on the order of $335 million in shareholder losses.	The Poor Quality of Affordable Care Act Regulations Christopher J. Conover, Jerry Ellig \| Jan 09, 2012 This Mercatus on Policy catalogs the main deficiencies of the regulatory analysis for the ACA regulations and compares them to other economically significant regulations proposed in 2008 and 2009.

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Testimony & Comments

On the Human Costs of the US Regulatory System: Should Congress Pressure Agencies to Make Rules Faster?

Patrick McLaughlin | Aug 01, 2013

Chairman Blumenthal, Ranking Member Hatch, and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. I am an economist and senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a 501(c)(3) research, educational, and outreach organization in Arlington, Virginia. My primary research focuses on the regulatory process and how it could be improved, so I am delighted to testify on today’s topic.

Fixing the Watchdog: Legislative Proposals to Improve And Enhance the Securities and Exchange Commission

J. W. Verret | Sep 15, 2011

J.W. Verret testified before the House Committee on Financial Services about proposals to improve the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Who's Watching the Watchmen?

Todd Zywicki | May 24, 2011

Todd Zywicki testified before the House Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs.

Speeches & Presentations

The Employment Impact of Regulation

Keith Hall | Jun 14, 2013

Regulation can play an important role in a market economy where there are significant market externalities, incomplete markets, information asymmetries, or public goods. Ideally, regulation identifies and focuses on correcting these market failures with minimal economic cost.

Videos

Consequences of Regulation Accumulation

Patrick McLaughlin | February 28, 2014

Government spending may be slowing but regulatory output is not. The number of regulations passed the one million mark in 2010, and their volume continues to rise. What does the continuing growth of so many rules mean for the U.S. economy and individual industries? http://mercatus.org/events/consequences-regulation-accumulation…

The Search for Solutions: Looking Beyond Prescriptive Regulation

Henry Butler J. W. Verret, Jerry Brito, Henry Butler | May 01, 2012

This panel addresses regulatory issues in three major policy areas: Technology -- Is regulation necessary to ensure cybersecurity? What should we know about market responses to cyber threats before we select a course of action? Health Care -- What is the market failure in health care? What roles do the federal and state governments have in finding solutions? Financial Markets -- When does federal pre-emption produce bad outcomes in financial regulation? How to recognize a regulatory failure and what to do about it.

Who Regulates the Regulators?

Todd Zywicki | April 03, 2012

Todd Zywicki examines the degree to which executive branch and independent agencies are subject to checks and balances on their regulatory authority. Topics include why it is necessary to regulate regulators, the factors that strength or weaken regulatory accountability, and what Nixon-era bureaucracy and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have in common.

Getting the Job Done Right: Essential Skills for Regulatory Oversight

J. W. Verret | March 01, 2012

Several key debates this year will focus on the economic impact of federal regulations. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is pleased to offer a series of courses designed to help congressional staff better understand the regulatory process. The first course uses examples from newly-minted financial markets regulations to review: -The stages involved in developing and finalizing a regulation -How to find and use information about a regulation -The best tools to help policy makers make the case for or against a change in regulation…

Podcasts

What Can a Regulatory Expert Foresee?

Sherzod Abdukadirov | January 29, 2014

What distinguishes an expert from the rest is not what one already knows, but one’s effort to discover the unknown. That’s what makes the scientific method indispensable to cutting edge researchers.

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Money Market Fund Reform: An Alternative to the SEC's Proposal

Hester Peirce | November 06, 2013

Money market fund reform remains one of the most prominent unsettled issues in financial markets regulation after the 2008 crisis. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s most recent effort which aims at balancing reforms with a desire to preserve the major benefits of money market funds has not achieved that objective. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University invites you to join Hester Peirce and Robert Greene for a Regulation University program that examines the need for money market fund reform, identifies potential problems with the SEC’s proposal, and offers recommendations for meaningful reform.

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Test-Driving Some Regulatory Process Reforms

Jerry Ellig | September 17, 2013

The scope and number of regulations continues to grow, but proof that problems are being solved remains elusive. Several reform efforts are focusing on ways to improve economic analysis so that agencies can make better decisions about when and how to use regulation for problem-solving. New research indicates several reforms that could have a positive impact.

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Regulation University: Why does the Regulatory Flexibility Act Matter?

, Bruce Lundegren | July 12, 2013

Hosted by Bruce Lundegren, Small Business Administration: Small businesses are a vital part of the economy, which is why it is imperative for federal regulations to consider the unique needs of small businesses and how regulatory policies can undermine their competitiveness in the marketplace. Congress passed the Regulatory Flexibility Act and related legislation to establish analytical and procedural requirements for agencies with the aim of protecting small businesses from poorly designed and ill-informed regulation.

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Upcoming Events

How Regulations Can Create Problems: An Examination of Misdirected “Nudge”

Todd Zywicki, Ted Gayer | March 11, 2014

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University invites you to join Todd Zywicki, Senior Scholar and Senior Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center and Ted Gayer, Vice President and Director of the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution for a Regulation University program that examines the mistakes agencies make in developing “nudge” regulations and the unintended, but foreseeable, consequences of those mistakes.

Identifying the Problem: The First Step in the Regulatory Process

Jerry Ellig | April 09, 2014

Please join the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and senior research fellow, Dr. Jerry Ellig, for a Regulation University program focusing on the elements essential to defining the problem and how agencies perform in completing this first essential step.

Recent Events

Consequences of Regulation Accumulation

Patrick McLaughlin | February 28, 2014

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University invites you to join us for a Regulation University presentation by Dr. Patrick McLaughlin examining the economic consequences of regulatory accumulation and reform options that can help sort out problem-solving regulations from problematic regulations.

What Can A Regulatory Expert Foresee?

Sherzod Abdukadirov | January 29, 2014

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University invites you to join us for a Regulation University presentation that will lay out specific examples from Dr. Abdukadirov’s paper, The Unintended Consequences of Safety Regulation, that demonstrate the value of pre-rulemaking analysis and retrospective regulatory analysis.

Money Market Fund Reform: An Alternative to the SEC’s Proposal

Hester Peirce | November 06, 2013

This program will highlight the key findings from Ms. Peirce and Mr. Greene’s recent public interest comment, Money Market Fund Reform; Amendments to Form PF, and provide specific suggestions for money market fund reform.

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Experts

Maurice P. McTigue

The Honorable Maurice McTigue, QSO, is vice-president for outreach at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is director of the Mercatus Center’s Government Accountability Project and a member of its Spending and Budget Initiative and State and Local Policy Project.

Jerry Ellig

Jerry Ellig is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a former assistant professor of economics at George Mason University. He specializes in the federal regulatory process, economic regulation, and telecommunications regulation.

Jerry Brito

Jerry Brito is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and director of its Technology Policy Program. He also serves as an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University. His research focuses on technology and Internet policy, copyright, and the regulatory process.

Todd Zywicki

Todd Zywicki is a senior scholar and senior fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law. He specializes in bankruptcy, contracts, commercial law, business associations, law and economics, and public choice and the law.

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Books

Government Performance and Results

Jerry Ellig, Maurice P. McTigue, Henry Wray | Sep 08, 2011

Summarizing the lessons learned from 10 years of research that evaluated the performance reports produced by federal agencies, the book assesses how the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) has affected the quality of agency performance reporting.

Beware the Surge of Midnight Regulations Sherzod Abdukadirov \| Jul 17, 2012 Administrations face fewer political constraints during the midnight period and, thus, take the opportunity to impose their policy preferences. These rushed, politically motivated regulations have poor quality analysis and face less stringent oversight from OIRA. Stemming the surge of midnight regulations requires comprehensive reform to constrain agencies’ ability to issue too many regulations and improve OIRA’s ability to oversee regulatory quality during the midnight period.	The Role of Retrospective Analysis and Review in Regulatory Policy Randall Lutter \| Apr 18, 2012 There are many obstacles to better regulatory measurement, analysis and review. But major setbacks include the agencies’ lack of impartiality in reviewing their existing regulations, an inappropriately narrow focus, and a failure to promote steps to better measure the actual benefits vs. the costs of regulations.
Is There a Market Failure In Cybersecurity? Eli Dourado, Jerry Brito \| Mar 06, 2012 Like gardens, the Internet developed without government intervention. Unnecessary regulation could break down the norms and practices that caused the Internet flourish in the first place.	Regulatory Alternatives James Broughel, Jerry Ellig \| Feb 21, 2012 This Mercatus on Policy shows how regulatory process reforms should require agencies to thoroughly analyze alternatives and publish that analysis for public comment before they propose a regulation.
The Law and Economics of Shareholder Voting Reform and the Costs of Proxy Access Thomas Stratmann, J. W. Verret \| Jan 17, 2012 The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 gave the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the authority to adopt a proxy access rule. Though the legislation urged an exemption for companies with less than $75 million in market capitalization, the SEC unexpectedly failed to provide a permanent exemption from the rule for those companies. This paper finds that, for the roughly 900 publicly traded companies studied with under $75 million in market capitalization, the proxy access rule caused on the order of $335 million in shareholder losses.	The Poor Quality of Affordable Care Act Regulations Christopher J. Conover, Jerry Ellig \| Jan 09, 2012 This Mercatus on Policy catalogs the main deficiencies of the regulatory analysis for the ACA regulations and compares them to other economically significant regulations proposed in 2008 and 2009.