How Reform Happens
The article explores the factors influencing regulatory reforms across 189 countries from 2005 to 2022. It highlights that richer countries tend to have more successful reform attempts but with less impact per reform compared to poorer nations. The findings suggest that the approval process and the ability to compensate losers play significant roles in the success of reforms.
- ▪A data set of 3,590 regulatory reforms was analyzed to understand reform dynamics.
- ▪Richer countries are more likely to attempt and succeed in reforms, but individual reforms have less impact.
- ▪Technological reforms have a higher success rate compared to administrative or legal reforms.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
How Reform Happens by Tyler Cowen April 28, 2026 at 1:01 am in Political Science What determines whether and how regulations are reformed? We use a newly constructed data set of 3,590 successful and failed regulatory reforms in 189 countries, between 2005 and 2022, to address this question. We document that regulations have become more business friendly in some regulatory domains but not others. We also show that regulations are more business friendly in richer than in poorer countries, and that holding initial regulatory levels constant, richer countries also reform more.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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