Improving the Quality of Regulations

Better regulation is necessary for economic recovery, to manage risks and to cut unnecessary red tape. How can countries make regulations fit for this challenge? How can they avoid imposing additional regulatory burdens on businesses coping with the effects of the financial crisis? A good system of regulatory management systematically helps to identify the best choice of policy options. It reduces unnecessary burdens on citizens and businesses and promotes transparency in the design of and access to regulations while protecting health, safety, and the environment. The OECD has conducted surveys on countries’ regulatory management systems in 1998, 2005 and 2008. The indicators offer insights into trends in regulatory reform and identify leading regulatory management practices.

This Policy Brief presents key findings set out in the Indicators of Regulatory Management Systems 2008 report. It builds on an earlier Policy Brief, 'Measuring Regulatory Quality', which discussed the conceptual foundation of the indicators and presented some of the key results of the 2005 survey.