| Panel: |
Panel Discussion 2: Regulation, Institutions, and Governance |
| Title: |
Paper 3: Regulation, Institutions, and Governance |
| JEL Code(s): |
O1 |
| Abstract: |
By any measure the regulatory burden facing Australian business has increased dramatically over the past few decades. The Australian Government has recently responded to a report from a taskforce (chaired by the Chairman of the Productivity Commission) appointed to examine this problem. Not surprisingly it is entitled Rethinking Regulation. Central to the way forward is an enhanced and stronger process to govern proposed regulations with significant implications for competition and business compliance costs. A Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) will continue to be an important (and strengthened) aspect of the machinery for this purpose and will be complemented by the mandatory use of a Business Cost Calculator (BCC) capable of identifying and estimating business compliance costs of regulations. A new independent Office of Best Practice Regulation has been established in the Productivity Commission to be both "coach" (advising regulators on RIS and BCC processes, training in techniques and provision of information) and "umpire" (determining analysis required of the regulator, reporting to government and monitoring performance).
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| Discussants: |
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