David Halpern (with a foreword by Richard Thaler), 2019, Penguin, London, 413 pages In Inside the Nudge Unit, Dr David Halpern (Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team) gives a detailed insight into the development and performance of the UK Behavioural Insights Team (BIT). The BIT, also known as the Nudge Unit, was established under … Continue reading Brief book review – Inside the Nudge Unit: How small changes can make a big difference
Author: Jeroen van der Heijden
Professor Jeroen van der Heijden works at the intersection of regulation and governance, with a specific interest in regulatory stewardship and dynamic governance regimes. As Chair in Regulatory Practice at the School of Government, Victoria University of Wellington, he is involved in world-leading research on regulatory practice and contributes to the training of those involved in regulatory issues. His research is organised around key-innovations in regulatory practice (including the use of behavioural incentives in regulation, regulatory intermediaries, and the resilience of regulatory regimes) and critical policy objectives in New Zealand and elsewhere. This allows him to draw lessons from New Zealand and elsewhere to improve New Zealand regulation and its impact on economic and social performance, and to showcase the state-of-the-art in regulatory practice in New Zealand to the rest of the world.
Jeroen is an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University (School of Regulation and Global Governance), and previously held positions at the University of Amsterdam (College of Law), Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management), and Wageningen University (Environmental Policy Group). He has published widely on regulation and governance, including five books and over 50 articles in leading academic journals.
One year on the job
Time really flies! Around this time last year, I was preparing my move to Aotearoa/New Zealand to take up the position as Chair in Regulatory Practice at the Victoria University of Wellington. Now the first year on the job is done. I will very soon release the first Annual Report of the Chair in Regulatory … Continue reading One year on the job
Risk governance and risk-based regulation review: Now available as open access paper
In regulatory governance and regulatory practice, ‘risk’ is probably one of the topics most talked about and least understood. The notion of risk is like the notion of time or happiness: we all know perfectly well what it is, until we try to explain it to others (or to ourselves, for that matter). Risk is … Continue reading Risk governance and risk-based regulation review: Now available as open access paper
Risk governance and risk-based regulation(6): Epistemic and ethical challenges
We are nearing the end of this series of blog posts on risk governance and risk-based regulation. It builds on a systematic review of over 150 academic publications published between 2009 and 2018. The aim of the series is to introduce those working in a regulatory environment to the key concepts of risk governance and … Continue reading Risk governance and risk-based regulation(6): Epistemic and ethical challenges
Risk governance and risk-based regulation(5): Evidence of the performance of risk governance and risk-based regulation
Now that we have a better understanding of the foundations of risk governance and risk-based regulation and have looked at some examples of its application, it is time to ask the hard question: does it work? Answering that question is all but easy. By and large the debate of risk governance and risk-based regulation is … Continue reading Risk governance and risk-based regulation(5): Evidence of the performance of risk governance and risk-based regulation
Risk governance and risk-based regulation(4): Frameworks for high-occurrence/low-impact risks, the precautionary principle, and benefit-cost analyses
In the previous blog post, I have addressed the holistic framework of the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC) as a blueprint for regulators interested in this approach to regulation, or as a check-list for those who already have risk governance in place. Here I discuss frameworks that focus on high-occurrence but low-impact risks; and, frameworks … Continue reading Risk governance and risk-based regulation(4): Frameworks for high-occurrence/low-impact risks, the precautionary principle, and benefit-cost analyses
Risk governance and risk-based regulation(3): The International Risk Governance Council Framework
Inspired by the insights from risk studies, governments around the world have begun to develop and implement risk governance and risk-based regulation. Following these developments, scholars have begun to map, explore and interrogate risk governance models and strategies, risk-based regulatory approaches and instruments, and their performance. There appears no area where governments have not trialled … Continue reading Risk governance and risk-based regulation(3): The International Risk Governance Council Framework
