The History of Evaluation Through Regulatory Impact Analysis: A Path from Accounting to Accountability

Authors

Daniele Capone
Dan Williams, CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2011

Abstract

Evaluation of public policy is an important element of intervention by government in the economy and society. This paper analyzes the path of evaluation in the U.S. system through development in related scientific fields and through the use, by different administrations, of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA). The history of evaluation shows that over time there has been a bipartisan acknowledgement of the importance of these tools and an interesting change in the approach and use of them. At the beginning, RIA and evaluation were conceived as control and accounting instruments with a strong use of economic analysis, but afterwards, they became an effective support to decision making related to accountability.

Comments

This work was originally published in the Journal of International Business.