Planned adaptation in risk regulation: An initial survey of US environmental, health, and safety regulation
Name
McCray-2010-Planned adaptation i.pdf
Size
172.61 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
53cb4ba328ab2b6c8a8f4e2a2614a989
Author(s)
Oye, Kenneth A.
McCray, Lawrence
Petersen, Arthur Caesar
Date Issued
February 2010
Journal
Technological Forecasting and Social Change
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
McCray, Lawrence E., Kenneth A. Oye, and Arthur C. Petersen. “Planned Adaptation in Risk Regulation: An Initial Survey of US Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulation.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 77, no. 6 (July 2010): 951–959.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
In principle, we want regulatory programs to be based on current realities, as reflected for example in the best knowledge of relevant experts. That would imply that old rules now on the books should be consistent with today's knowledge base, not just what was known when a rule or standard was originally set. This paper reports on a survey of US programs, examining how often existing rules are actually updated in light of better knowledge, and identifies five programs that attempt to make policy routinely adaptive. These programs exhibit what we term Planned Adaptation: they both revise rules when relevant new knowledge appears, and take steps to produce such improved knowledge. While Planned Adaptation is rare, it is used in several nationally prominent programs, including air pollution, airplane safety, and drug safety. Planned Adaptation is a policy tool that deserves more attention.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for International Studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2009.12.001
