We’ve been on a bit of a tear today about the politics of regulation. So why quit when we’re having so much fun with it? As we noted today, calls for additional regulation often depend on a double standard under which market process are characterized by imperfect information and dominated by self-interest while regulatory processes are somehow viewed as well-informed and public-minded. Why are people so attracted to regulatory solutions when despite the lack of evidence for concrete benefits?
David Hirshleifer has a delightful paper that sees through one prominent anti-market double standard and suggests an answer—several in fact—about why regulation is unduly attractive. His approach is simple. He points out that the findings of behavioral psychology—that people are often irrational, biased and ill-informed—apply to regulators as well as investors and consumers.
“The psychological attraction theory of regulation holds that regulation is the result of psychological biases on the part of political participants and regulators, and the evolution of regulatory ideologies that exploit these biases,” he writes.
The cumulative effect of these biases is overregulation. “[Since the universe of possible tempting regulations is unlimited, the theory predicts a general tendency for overregulation, and for rules to accrete over time like barnacles, impeding economic progress. The theory also predicts occasional drastic increases in regulation in response to market downturns or disruption.”
You can download the paper here. (Hat tip to Ribstein.)
Posted by Bugs Meany, Feb 04, 2008 4:00PM
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