Introduction: The World of Regulation and Compliance

This book tries to answer the most relevant questions about how to tailor regulations in such a way that businesses are able and willing to comply with government regulations. It brings together a number of diverse contributions from leading experts in their related fields. The book is written to mark the retirement of André Nijsen in February 2008. It explains how the authors were getting fascinated by the issue of business effects of regulations. For years, businesses are complaining about regulations and compliance costs. On the other hand, society is becoming aware of more and more risks for the well being of people, nature and planet. Regulating seems to be one of the answers to safeguard against these risks. How can we deregulate and regulate at the same time, without bargaining our public goals and acting as a brake on economic growth? That is the key question to be answered in this book. One of the basic conditions for such a policy is the availability of clear concepts and unquestionable information about compliance effects. The question is which perspective do we need to create transparency about business effects of regulation? Do we need the classic business perspective or could a public policy perspective be more useful to take away or avoid unnecessary compliance costs? The business perspective appears to be important as a starting point but to improve the quality of regulation we need to change this perspective into a public policy one. One of the strongest arguments to favor a policy to reduce compliance costs is that compliance costs are regressive in nature. They are especially burdensome for the small businesses.