Assessing the Impact of Regulatory Management Systems

This Working Paper presents preliminary analytical estimates using the 1998 and 2005 surveys of indicators of systems for the management of regulatory quality. Two broad dimensions are found in regulatory management systems using Factor Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis. The first reflects an integrated approach to ex ante assessment, with the use of tools such as formal consultation and regulatory impact analysis as well as institutions for regulatory oversight, training and capacity building. The second focuses on the stock of regulation, with administrative simplification, streamlining licences and permits, etc. These data are correlated with other available datasets on regulatory frameworks, including the OECD indicators of Product Market Regulations, subsets of the Doing business and Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) from the World Bank and the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) from the World Economic Forum. Finally, the report presents some preliminary regressions with reduced forms, including fixed and random effects, linking the indicators to macroeconomic indicators. The findings tend to support the view that improvements in regulatory management system quality yield significant economic benefits.