Colin Scott

Bio: Colin Scott is an academic researcher from University College Dublin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Corporate governance & Accountability. The author has an hindex of 28, co-authored 106 publications receiving 4679 citations. Previous affiliations of Colin Scott include University of Warwick & University of Exeter.

Regulation in the Age of Governance: the rise of the post-regulatory state

Abstract: This book suggests that the scope and breadth of regulatory reforms since the mid-1980s and particularly during the 1990s, are so striking that they necessitate a reappraisal of current approaches to the study of the politics of regulation. The authors call for the adoption of different and fresh perspectives to examine this area.

Accountability in the Regulatory State

Abstract: Accountability has long been both a key theme and a key problem in constitutional scholarship. The centrality of the accountability debates in contemporary political and legal discourse is a product of the difficulty of balancing the autonomy given to those exercising public power with appropriate control. The traditional mechanisms of accountability to Parliament and to the courts are problematic because in a complex administrative state, characterized by widespread delegation of discretion to actors located far from the centre of government, the conception of centralized responsibility upon which traditional accountability mechanisms are based is often fictional. The problems of accountability have been made manifest by the transformations wrought on public administration by the new public management (NPM) revolution which have further fragmented the public sector. In this article it is argued that if public lawyers are to be reconciled to these changes then it will be through recognizing the potential for additional or extended mechanisms of accountability in supplementing or displacing traditional accountability functions. The article identifies and develops two such extended accountability models: interdependence and redundancy

Regulation Inside Government: Waste-Watchers, Quality Police, and Sleaze-Busters

Abstract: Regulation Inside Government analyses the army of inspectors, auditors, grievance-chasers, standard-setters, and other bodies overseeing contemporary public organizations. On the basis of a pioneering two-year inside study of British Government by a team of leading scholars, this book provides an original analytical perspective on regulation within government. Given the limitations of orthodox constitutional checks on executive government, the courts, and elected politicians, regulation inside government deserves more attention than it has hitherto received. As one of the first comprehensive accounts of regulation inside government, this book begins to fill the gap. The empirical data for the study sets out the full range of modes of control applied to the public sector. The authors examine the relationship between formal oversight, of the traditional regulatory sort, with other forms of control based on competition, mutuality, and contrived randomness. They conclude that there is a failure in contemporary public management to deploy each of these modes of control to their full potential.

A reader on regulation

Abstract: Introduction: Regulation Grows Up: Into its Prime or Mid-Life Crisis?. PART 1: REGULATORY ORIGINS AND REFORM. Stephen Breyer: Typical Justifications for Regulation. Sam Peltzman: The Economic Theory of Regulation after a Decade of Deregulation. Leigh Hancher and Michael Moran: . Toni Makkai and John Braithwaite: In and Out of the Revolving Door: Making Sense of Regulatory Capture. Giandomenico Majone: The Rise of the Regulatory State in Europe. PART 2: STANDARD SETTING AND RULE CHOICES. Colin Diver: The Optimal Precision of Administrative Rules. Kristin Shrader-Frechette: Uncertainty and the Producer Strategy. Keith Hawkins: Law as Last Resort. Steven Shavell: The Optimal Structure of Law Enforcement. Nancy Reichman: Moving Backstage: Uncovering the Role of Compliance Practices in Shaping Regulatory Policy. PART 3: VARIETIES OF REGULATORY STYLES AND TECHNIQUES. Terence Daintith: Legal Measures and their Analysis. Anthony Ogus: Rethinking Self-Regulation. Gunther Teubner: . PART 4: VARIETIES OF REGULATORY SCALE. Jeanne-Mey Sun and Jacques Pelkmans: Regulatory Competition. PART 5: VARIETY IN ACCOUNTING FOR REGULATION. James Freedman: Crisis and Legitimacy in the administrative process: a historical perspective. Cosmo Graham: Is there a Crisis in Regulatory Accountability?

The European commission

Abstract: 2 1 The innovative transport systems and the CityMobil project 10 1.1 The research questions 10 2 The state of art in the field of automatic transport systems 12 2.1 Case studies and demand studies for innovative transport systems 12 3 The design and implementation of surveys 14 3.1 Definition of experimental design 14 3.2 Questionnaire design and delivery 16 3.3 First analyses on the collected sample 18 4 Calibration of Logit Multionomial demand models 21 4.1 Methodology 21 4.2 Calibration of the “full” model. 22 4.3 Calibration of the “final” model 24 4.4 The demand analysis through the final Multinomial Logit model 25 5 The analysis of interaction between the demand and socioeconomic attributes 31 5.1 Methodology 31 5.2 Application of Mixed Logit models to the demand 31 5.3 Analysis of the interactions between demand and socioeconomic attributes through Mixed Logit models 32 5.4 Mixed Logit model and interaction between age and the demand for the CTS 38 5.5 Demand analysis with Mixed Logit model 39 6 Final analyses and conclusions 45 6.1 Comparison between the results of the analyses 45 6.2 Conclusions 48 6.3 Answers to the research questions and future developments 52

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Abstract: NUDGE: IMPROVING DECISIONS ABOUT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein Penguin Books, 2009, 312 pp, ISBN 978-0-14-311526-7This book is best described formally as a general explanation of and advocacy for libertarian paternalism, a term coined by the authors in earlier publications. Informally, it is about how leaders, systems, organizations, and governments can nudge people to do the things the nudgers want and need done for the betterment of the nudgees, or of society. It is paternalism in the sense that "it is legitimate for choice architects to try to influence people's behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better", (p. 5) It is libertarian in that "people should be free to do what they like - and to opt out of undesirable arrangements if they want to do so", (p. 5) The built-in possibility of opting out or making a different choice preserves freedom of choice even though people's behavior has been influenced by the nature of the presentation of the information or by the structure of the decisionmaking system. I had never heard of libertarian paternalism before reading this book, and I now find it fascinating.Written for a general audience, this book contains mostly social and behavioral science theory and models, but there is considerable discussion of structure and process that has roots in mathematical and quantitative modeling. One of the main applications of this social system is economic choice in investing, selecting and purchasing products and services, systems of taxes, banking (mortgages, borrowing, savings), and retirement systems. Other quantitative social choice systems discussed include environmental effects, health care plans, gambling, and organ donations. Softer issues that are also subject to a nudge-based approach are marriage, education, eating, drinking, smoking, influence, spread of information, and politics. There is something in this book for everyone.The basis for this libertarian paternalism concept is in the social theory called "science of choice", the study of the design and implementation of influence systems on various kinds of people. The terms Econs and Humans, are used to refer to people with either considerable or little rational decision-making talent, respectively. The various libertarian paternalism concepts and systems presented are tested and compared in light of these two types of people. Two foundational issues that this book has in common with another book, Network of Echoes: Imitation, Innovation and Invisible Leaders, that was also reviewed for this issue of the Journal are that 1 ) there are two modes of thinking (or components of the brain) - an automatic (intuitive) process and a reflective (rational) process and 2) the need for conformity and the desire for imitation are powerful forces in human behavior. …

Putting the S back in corporate social responsibility: A multilevel theory of social change in organizations

Abstract: We provide a multilevel theoretical model to understand why business organizations are increasingly engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and thereby exhibiting the potential to exert positive social change. Our model integrates theories of organizational justice, corporate governance, and varieties of capitalism to argue that organizations are pressured to engage in CSR by many different actors, each driven by instrumental, relational, and moral motives. We conclude by highlighting empirical questions for future research and discussing some managerial implications. Economic progress, through a fair and open world trading system is essential to tackle poverty and ensure a safer more secure world for everyone now and for future generations. The challenges remain of ensuring that the benefits of that progress reach all sectors in all countries and are not at the expense of the environment (Sir Stephen Timms, U.K. Minister for CSR, Royal In

New public management is dead. Long live digital-era governance

Abstract: The "new public management" (NPM) wave in public sector organizational change was founded on themes of disaggregation, competition, and incentivization. Although its effects are still working through in countries new to NPM, this wave has now largely stalled or been reversed in some key "leading-edge" countries. This ebbing chiefly reflects the cumulation of adverse indirect effects on citizens' capacities for solving social problems because NPM has radically increased institutional and policy complexity. The character of the post-NPM regime is currently being formed. We set out the case that a range of connected and information technology-centered changes will be critical for the current and next wave of change, and we focus on themes of reintegration, needs-based holism, and digitization changes. The overall movement incorporating these new shifts is toward "digital-era governance" (DEG), which involves reintegrating functions into the governmental sphere, adopting holistic and needs-oriented structures, and progressing digitalization of administrative processes. DEG offers a perhaps unique opportunity to create self-sustaining change, in a broad range of closely connected technological, organizational, cultural, and social effects. But there are alternative scenarios as to how far DEG will be recognized as a coherent phenomenon and implemented successfully.