Risk regulation

Financial risk models built on sand

by Yasmine Hayek

Playing tick-box games: Interrelating defences in professional appraisal

by Gerry McGivern

McGivern, G. & Ferlie, E. 2007, ‘Playing Tick Box Games: Interrelating Defences in Professional Appraisal’, Human Relations, 60 (9) 1361-1385.

We here examine the introduction of appraisal for senior medical professionals. Our recent qualitative field research... more We here examine the introduction of appraisal for senior medical professionals. Our recent qualitative field research found four main experiences of appraisal (developmental, disappointed reflection, defensive assessment and cynical dismissal of appraisal as a waste of time), which we developed into a typology. We argue many professionals `play tick-box games' to give the impression of auditable practice while continuing to practise in a traditional way. We develop existing theory on the `audit society', social defences and `mock bureaucracy' to explain interrelating defences which occur in appraisal as a reaction to the risks and conflict experienced in professional regulation.

Reactivity and Reactions to Regulartory Transparency in Medicine, Psychotherapy and Counselling

by Gerry McGivern

McGivern, G. & Fischer, M. (2012) ‘Reactivity and Reactions to Regulartory Transparency in Medicine, Psychotherapy and Counselling’. Social Science & Medicine, 74 (3) 286-96.

We explore how doctors, psychotherapists and counsellors in the UK react to regulatory transparency, drawing on... more We explore how doctors, psychotherapists and counsellors in the UK react to regulatory transparency, drawing on qualitative research involving 51 semi-structured interviews conducted during 2008–10. We use the concept of ‘reactivity mechanisms’ (Espeland & Sauder, 2007) to explain how regulatory transparency disrupts practices through simplifying and decontextualizing them, altering practitioners’ reflexivity, leading to defensive forms of practice. We make an empirical contribution by exploring the impact of transparency on doctors compared with psychotherapists and counsellors, who represent an extreme case due to their uniquely complex practice, which is particularly affected by this form of regulation. We make a contribution to knowledge by developing a model of reactivity mechanisms, which explains how clinical professionals make sense of media and professional narratives about regulation in ways that produce emotional reactions and, in turn, defensive reactivity to transparency.

When the Chick Hits the Fan: Representativeness and Reproducibility in Technological Tests

by John Downer

Downer, John 2007 ‘When the Chick Hits the Fan: Representativeness and Reproducibility in Technological Testing’, Social Studies of Science 37 (1): 7-26.

Before a new turbojet engine design is approved, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must assure themselves... more Before a new turbojet engine design is approved, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must assure themselves that, among many other things, the engine can safely ingest birds. They do this by mandating a series of well-defined - if somewhat Pythonesque - ‘birdstrike tests’ through which the manufacturers can demonstrate the integrity of their engines. In principle, the tests are straightforward: engineers run an engine at high speed, launch birds into it, and watch to see if it explodes. In practice, the tests rest on a complex and contentious logic. In this paper I explore the debate that surrounds these tests, using it to illustrate the now-familiar idea that technological tests - like scientific experiments - unavoidably contain irreducible ambiguities that require judgments to bridge, and to show that these judgments can have real consequences. Having established this, I then explore how the FAA reconciles the unavoidable ambiguities with its need to determine, with a high degree of certainty, that the engines will be as safe as Congress requires. I argue that this reconciliation requires a careful balance between the opposing virtues of reproducibility and representativeness - and that this balance differs significantly from that in most scientific experiments, and from the common perception of what it ought to be.

Standards, Risk and the Scientist

by Joel DSilva

Book Review - Scientists and the regulation of risk: Standardising Control, David Demortain, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2011, 263 pp.

forthcoming

Regulating nanomedicine: A European perspective

by Joel DSilva

D’Silva J & Van Calster G (2008), Regulating nanomedicine: A European perspective, Commentary, available from Nature Precedings http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2008.2388.1

The Risk Versus Hazard Debate: Reconciling Inconsistencies in Health and Safety Regulation within the UK and across the EU

by Phil Dines

Sweta Chakraborty

Dr Sweta Chakraborty reviews the current debate over health & safety regulation, representing the views of... more Dr Sweta Chakraborty reviews the current debate over health & safety regulation, representing the views of academics, regulators, government, and lawyers, including the British Safety Council and the Health and Safety Executive.

The policy brief recommends a more lenient approach to regulation based on risk management rather than hazard classifications.

It reinforces recommendations made in the Löfstedt Report, which have been adopted in the Government Response and reflected in David Cameron's pledge to "tackle the health and safety monster".

Media, Risk and Absence of Blame for ‘Acts of God’: Attenuation of the European Volcanic Ash Cloud of 2010

by Adam Burgess

This article analyses the character, extent and patterns of media coverage of the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, comparing... more This article analyses the character, extent and patterns of media coverage of the 2010 volcanic ash cloud, comparing it with coverage of other major natural hazards such as Deepwater Horizon. It does so drawing upon sociological themes and concludes that the ash cloud was reported largely in its own terms rather than being amplified as a wider, uncertain threat. As well as the absence of major incident and casualties two interrelated factors are highlighted to explain this result. Emphasising the importance of hazard duration, the unexpected arrival and short lived character of the ash cloud was one important factor that limited the potential for sustained media amplification. More broadly, this was an ‘act of God’ with no clearly responsible agents. This preliminary study suggests that contemporary media risk narrative requires a focus for institutional blame attribution, and without a plausible candidate amplification may not acquire momentum.

Rationality within Reach? On Functional Differentiation as the Structural Foundation of Legitimacy in European Chemicals Regulation

by Poul F. Kjaer

European University Institute Department of Law Working Paper No. 2007/18

This paper analyses the potential legitimacy basis of REACH, the new regulatory system for the EU chemicals market. This paper analyses the potential legitimacy basis of REACH, the new regulatory system for the EU chemicals market.

A Hybrid within a Hybrid: Contextualizing REACH in the Process of European Integration and Constitutionalization

by Poul F. Kjaer

European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 383-396, 2010

REACH is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. This Regulation is a hybrid that... more REACH is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. This Regulation is a hybrid that combines hierarchy and heterarchy from a both a legal and an organisational perspective. Such hybridism is, however, not a feature that is particular to REACH. Rather the EU itself must be understood as a hybrid, thereby making REACH a hybrid operating within a hybrid. The hybrid structure of REACH reflects its societal function, which is to simultaneously separate and combine politics, science, economy, health and the environment within a single legal framework. The legitimacy of REACH reflects its hybrid structure in the sense that it is based on a combination of democratic, procedural and deliberative components.

A Hybrid within a Hybrid: Contextualizing REACH in the Process of European Integration and Constitutionalization

by Poul F. Kjaer

European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 383-396, 2010

REACH is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. This Regulation is a hybrid that... more REACH is a new European Community Regulation on chemicals and their safe use. This Regulation is a hybrid that combines hierarchy and heterarchy from a both a legal and an organisational perspective. Such hybridism is, however, not a feature that is particular to REACH. Rather the EU itself must be understood as a hybrid, thereby making REACH a hybrid operating within a hybrid. The hybrid structure of REACH reflects its societal function, which is to simultaneously separate and combine politics, science, economy, health and the environment within a single legal framework. The legitimacy of REACH reflects its hybrid structure in the sense that it is based on a combination of democratic, procedural and deliberative components.

Risk as a Social Construction?

by Thomas Koenig

co-authored with Andrea Schaffar, Markus Mayer
published in Journal "Recherche en Communication", Université Catholique de Louvain (22/2004, 31-44)

The Internet is often called a risky medium. Dangers like pornography or the glorifi cation of violence are in the... more The Internet is often called a risky medium. Dangers like pornography or the glorifi cation of violence are in the main focus of the public and the media. Discussions about the Internet and its opportunities and risks are on the daily agenda of many politicians, teachers and families. But most of the time the answers to these social questions are in a way uninspired and follow a long tradition how people dealt with new media developments in the past : namely to protect, to prevent and to
lock out every possible irritation

Financial Engineering and Engineering of Financial Regulation

by Yener Coşkun, MRICS

Coşkun, Yener. (2011). Financial Engineering and Engineering of Financial Regulation. Conference Paper. 20-21 October, 2011. Conference on Financial Engineering, Izmir,Turkey.

As observed at least in last two decades, financial engineering has not only changed the way of doing business in... more As observed at least in last two decades, financial engineering has not only changed the way of doing business in finance world, but also has changed daily life of average citizens in the leading economies. Structured products named as weapons of mass destruction in some post-crisis comments. But it is fair to say that few people could understand the nature and risks of these instruments before the crisis. By using literature review and case study analysis, the author analyses how financial regulation and supervision have failed to understand/manage the financial engineering products during/before the global financial crisis. In this context, we discuss the measures to enhance good regulatory governance in engineered products. We conclude however engineered products have important benefits to the global economy, regulatory/supervisory structure should be improved for better firm/system wide risk management. Secondly, there are four components to improve prudential regulatory/supervisory framework of structured products. Those are, timely/effectively action to the balance sheet problems, to increase the effectiveness of the risk management, to improve independence and quality of prudential regulation/supervision and to increase accountability of supervisors.

Keywords: Financial engineering, structured finance, financial crisis, risk management, regulation.

Jel Classification: G32, G01, G24, G38

Introducing the Problem of Risk in Forensic Science

by Christopher Lawless

Conference Paper delivered at Kings College London Risk Symposium, 5 June 2009.

Non-Contractual Liability as an Instrument for Regulating Nano and New Technologies – A thorough review using national and European Union tort law

by Cheryl Micallef-Borg

Co-authored with Prof. Dr. Geert Van Calster;
Working Paper Series

The novel properties yielded by nanoparticles’ physico-characteristics, and the benefits associated with them, have... more The novel properties yielded by nanoparticles’ physico-characteristics, and the benefits associated with them, have for some time now raised concerns over long-term health impact and potential risks. This article examines the suitability of non-contractual liability, as a regulatory instrument to deal with potential harm/damage that may be caused by engineered non-biodegradable/insoluble free nanoparticles, nanomaterials and products incorporating them, in a European context. It does so by employing an Environment, Health and Safety framework i.e. catering for reparation in occupational health and safety, product liability, and environmental damage scenarios. Delving into the rigours of tort law and case law in the EU, aiming to elucidate ius commune stances, the article explores the application of the OHS Framework Directive, the Product Liability Directive and the Environmental Liability Directive (albeit to a lesser extent). Insights are taken from cases (and regulation) primarily dealing with asbestos and genetically modified organisms.

In the development of a regulatory framework for nanotechnologies, and other emerging technologies more generally, is non-contractual liability a good muscle to flex in the regulator’s stratagem? With all the unknowns that come with the ‘new’, is the law of (qausi) delict capable of meeting its aims - tempering, with caution, nanotechnologies’ use and proliferation? This article seeks to answer these questions in more than just general terms. In reviewing the detailed application of the law of torts in Europe, we offer in-depth insight into tort law’s ultimate (in)suitability for regulating new technologies.

ALCOFORADO, Os Desafios da Regulação e da Politica Ambiental II

by Ihering Guedes Alcoforado

Internet Co-Regulation: European Law, Regulatory Governance and Legitimacy in Cyberspace

by Chris Marsden

Monograph published 18 August - launch at SLS, Cambridge Uk 6 September

Chris Marsden argues that co-regulation is the defining feature of the Internet in Europe. Co-regulation offers the... more Chris Marsden argues that co-regulation is the defining feature of the Internet in Europe. Co-regulation offers the state a route back into questions of legitimacy, governance and human rights, thereby opening up more interesting conversations than a static no-regulation versus state regulation binary choice. The basis for the argument is empirical investigation, based on a multi-year, European Commission-funded study and is further reinforced by the direction of travel in European and English law and policy, including the Digital Economy Act 2010. He places Internet regulation within the regulatory mainstream, as an advanced technocratic form of self- and co-regulation which requires governance reform to address a growing constitutional legitimacy gap. The literature review, case studies and analysis shed a welcome light on policymaking at the centre of Internet regulation in Brussels, London and Washington, revealing the extent to which states, firms and, increasingly, citizens are developing a new type of regulatory bargain.

Public Inquiries in the (Risk) Regulatory State

by Adam Burgess

earlier draft of paper to be published in British Politics 6(1) 2011

This article historically considers major public inquiries as an institution of the British regulatory state (Moran... more This article historically considers major public inquiries as an institution of the British regulatory state (Moran 2003), using recent data from parliamentary committees. Major inquiries draw upon judicial independence to restore political authority. Despite their formally ‘public’ character major inquiries were more confined to matters internal to the state prior to the 1980s, reflecting the insularity of ‘club rule’ and invisibility of the actual ‘public’. Inquiries began to assume their modern form in the 1960s, but it was in the context of the need for new institutions that arose with the collapse of ‘club rule’ that inquiries have taken on new significance. Increased resort to them reflects not simply more events necessitating such a response, but a greater need for a mechanism with both a public orientation and formal independence. The paper suggests that inquiries may have become overburdened instruments, particularly in relation to an expectation to effectively eliminate risk.

TECHNIQUE AND TECHNOLOGY IN THE KITCHEN: COMPARING RESISTANCE TO MUNICIPAL TRANS FAT AND FOIE GRAS BANS

by David Schleifer

Salt’s Fat Chance

by David Schleifer

“History in the Making: Salt’s Fat Chance.” Chemical Heritage Magazine 27(3): 38-39, 2009