Making Law Effective: Behavioural Insights into Compliance

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-501
Author(s):  
Nicoletta RANGONE

This paper investigates traditional and new tools for increasing the effectiveness of rules and enforcement strategies. As a preliminary concern, it underlines that there are two sides to effectiveness that cannot be approached separately: effectiveness as perfect compliance with the terms of rules, and effectiveness as a result of rules which incentivise behaviours to meet the “spirit of the law”. In order to achieve this comprehensive approach to effectiveness, rules must be evidence-based, plain, understandable and accepted. Moreover, a clear understanding of compliance drivers is needed. Deterrence and all other possible motivations that go beyond the rational calculus should be assessed by decision-makers, such as internal motivation, procedural fairness, cooperation, social norms, heuristics and bias. Enriching the rationality assumption with other drivers of compliance does not mean dismissing traditional rules or enforcement tools, which conversely remain crucial for the purpose of supporting voluntary compliance and for preventing non-compliance. However, deterrence should be calibrated by a risk-based, responsive and proportional approach to (simplified) rules and enforcement strategies. Trust in public authorities, supportive and cooperative public administrations are also fundamental in order to increase voluntary compliance, and a cognitive-based approach should complement these views.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 230-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Raco ◽  
Tuna Tasan-Kok

In recent academic and urban policy writings the term urban diversity is usually understood, or discussed within the context of, increasing ‘socio-cultural’ diversity in cities or is explicitly connected to debates over immigration and demographic change. Although policy agendas follow certain common trends ‘to deal with’ the consequences of diversity, there is a lack of evidence-based research on how representations of diversity are mobilised and implemented by institutions of governance operating at multiple scales and how these narratives relate to each other. Policy-makers are faced with new dilemmas over how to govern and manage cities that are becoming increasingly diverse, on the one hand, and increasingly ‘sensitive’ to certain channels of flows of people (such as refugees), on the other. In some cases, city authorities promote the idea of inclusive diversity as a mark of modernisation and tolerance. In others, its recognition may be seen as a threat to an imagined social order and is perceived to be fuelling neo-assimilationist policies in many European Union cities. This special issue aims to fill this gap by providing evidence-based research outcomes that tackle different dimensions of the governance of diversity in cities. The principal aim of the research project, named DIVERCITIES, that underpins this collection was to critically assess evidence concerning the range of socio-economic outcomes that may emerge from the presence of greater urban diversity. DIVERCITIES has shown that city policy agendas across Europe are often more ‘positive’ towards diversity than national policies and media reports. Moreover, local policy initiatives, mostly formed at the bottom-up scale, sometimes as a cooperation between state and civic actors and sometimes as purely private or even individual arrangements, address the actual needs of certain population groups by acting as bridge-builders between public authorities and target groups. This collection aims to provide a clear understanding of how diversity is understood, operationalised and dealt with at different scales of policy-making. In focusing on European examples, it provides an important addition to a literature that has become Anglo-American focused, both in terms of the concepts and policy interventions.





2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2266
Author(s):  
Valentina Marincioni ◽  
Virginia Gori ◽  
Ernst Jan de Place Hansen ◽  
Daniel Herrera-Avellanosa ◽  
Sara Mauri ◽  
...  

Buildings of heritage significance due to their historical, architectural, or cultural value, here called historic buildings, constitute a large proportion of the building stock in many countries around the world. Improving the performance of such buildings is necessary to lower the carbon emissions of the stock, which generates around 40% of the overall emissions worldwide. In historic buildings, it is estimated that heat loss through external walls contributes significantly to the overall energy consumption, and is associated with poor thermal comfort and indoor air quality. Measures to improve the performance of walls of historic buildings require a balance between energy performance, indoor environmental quality, heritage significance, and technical compatibility. Appropriate wall measures are available, but the correct selection and implementation require an integrated process throughout assessment (planning), design, construction, and use. Despite the available knowledge, decision-makers often have limited access to robust information on tested retrofit measures, hindering the implementation of deep renovation. This paper provides an evidence-based approach on the steps required during assessment, design, and construction, and after retrofitting through a literature review. Moreover, it provides a review of possible measures for wall retrofit within the deep renovation of historic buildings, including their advantages and disadvantages and the required considerations based on context.



2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6752
Author(s):  
Idiano D’Adamo ◽  
Rocío González-Sánchez ◽  
Maria Sonia Medina-Salgado ◽  
Davide Settembre-Blundo

The pandemic has changed the citizens’ behavior, inducing them to avoid any real contact. This has given an incredible impulse to e-commerce; however, the complexity of the topic has not yet been adequately explored in the literature. To fill this gap, this study has a twofold purpose: (1) to investigate how European countries comparatively perform in e-commerce, and (2) to describe what are the most important challenges for the further expansion of e-commerce. To this end, we adopted a hybrid methodology based on multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and a Likert scale survey. The first method allows to us rank the e-commerce performance of different European countries, while the second one looks at the problems and barriers that characterize online shopping. The results of the study show that European countries have different sensitivities to the issue of cyber-security, and among them it is possible to identify three groups with different levels of attention to the critical issues of e-commerce. The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark belong to the group of countries most responsive to e-commerce. This request is part of a broader framework of transition toward sustainable development, i.e., a reliable digital environment where citizens and businesses can exercise their rights and freedoms in complete security. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, this paper adds a new baseline to the literature on the state of the art of e-commerce in Europe that addresses the effects of the pandemic. From a managerial point of view, decision makers can find in the results of this analysis a support for the setting of business strategies for the expansion of firms in certain markets and guidance for public authorities when defining regulatory policies for e-commerce.



2001 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven H. Sheingold

Decision making in health care has become increasingly reliant on information technology, evidence-based processes, and performance measurement. It is therefore a time at which it is of critical importance to make data and analyses more relevant to decision makers. Those who support Bayesian approaches contend that their analyses provide more relevant information for decision making than do classical or “frequentist” methods, and that a paradigm shift to the former is long overdue. While formal Bayesian analyses may eventually play an important role in decision making, there are several obstacles to overcome if these methods are to gain acceptance in an environment dominated by frequentist approaches. Supporters of Bayesian statistics must find more accommodating approaches to making their case, especially in finding ways to make these methods more transparent and accessible. Moreover, they must better understand the decision-making environment they hope to influence. This paper discusses these issues and provides some suggestions for overcoming some of these barriers to greater acceptance.



2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  

Abstract Evidence-based decision-making is central to public health. Implementing evidence-informed actions is most challenging during a public health emergency as in an epidemic, when time is limited, scientific uncertainties and political pressures tend to be high, and irrefutable evidence may be lacking. The process of including evidence in public health decision-making and for evidence-informed policy, in preparation, and during public health emergencies, is not systematic and is complicated by many barriers as the absences of shared tools and approaches for evidence-based preparedness and response planning. Many of today's public health crises are also cross-border, and countries need to collaborate in a systematic and standardized way in order to enhance interoperability and to implement coordinated evidence-based response plans. To strengthen the impact of scientific evidence on decision-making for public health emergency preparedness and response, it is necessary to better define mechanisms through which interdisciplinary evidence feeds into decision-making processes during public health emergencies and the context in which these mechanisms operate. As a multidisciplinary, standardized and evidence-based decision-making tool, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) represents and approach that can inform public health emergency preparedness and response planning processes; it can also provide meaningful insights on existing preparedness structures, working as bridge between scientists and decision-makers, easing knowledge transition and translation to ensure that evidence is effectively integrated into decision-making contexts. HTA can address the link between scientific evidence and decision-making in public health emergencies, and overcome the key challenges faced by public health experts when advising decision makers, including strengthening and accelerating knowledge transfer through rapid HTA, improving networking between actors and disciplines. It may allow a 360° perspective, providing a comprehensive view to decision-making in preparation and during public health emergencies. The objective of the workshop is to explore and present how HTA can be used as a shared and systematic evidence-based tool for Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response, in order to enable stakeholders and decision makers taking actions based on the best available evidence through a process which is systematic and transparent. Key messages There are many barriers and no shared mechanisms to bring evidence in decision-making during public health emergencies. HTA can represent the tool to bring evidence-informed actions in public health emergency preparedness and response.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Huey ◽  
Renée J. Mitchell ◽  
Hina Kalyal ◽  
Roger Pegram

This practical and accessible guide shows how police forces of all sizes can successfully adopt evidence-based methods. Drawing on experiences of North American policing, it sets out ways for decision makers to reshape practices, strategies and organizational structures, and overcome barriers to change.



2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Bodea ◽  
Adrienne LeBas

Voluntary compliance is an important aspect of strong tax regimes, but there is limited understanding of how social norms favoring compliance emerge. Using novel data from urban Nigeria, where tax enforcement is weak, this article shows that individuals with a positive experience of state services delivery are more likely to express belief in an unconditioned citizen obligation to pay tax. In addition to support for this fiscal exchange mechanism, social context is consequential. Where individuals have access to community-provided goods, which may substitute for effective state services provision, they are less likely to adopt pro-compliance norms. Finally, the article shows that norm adoption increases tax payment. These findings have broad implications for literatures on state formation, taxation and public goods provision.



2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Roope Husgafvel ◽  
Mikko Martikka ◽  
Andrade Egas ◽  
Natasha Ribeiro ◽  
Olli Dahl

Addressing the sustainability challenges in the forest sector in Mozambique require capacity building for higher education and training of new skilled expert and future decision-makers. Our approach was to developed a study module on and pedagogical approaches to industrial environmental engineering and sustainability. The idea was to developed a joint module that would eventually become a part of both PhD and MSc programmes in the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique. The basis of our development work encompassed the local priorities as identified by the UEM staff, UEM competencies in forestry engineering and the experience of the Aalto University in higher education in the fields of environmental engineering, sustainability and forest products technology. From the beginning, public authorities and industry/company representatives were involved in the development process to advance the created benefits in terms of sustainable development in Mozambique. The result of the joined work by these two higher education institutions was a study module that has been teached and completed by a class of MSc students as a part of the official UEM curricula.    



2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathrin Frey ◽  
Thomas Widmer

Evidence-based policy-making and other recent reforms in public steering emphasize the role systematic evidence can play in improving decision making and public policies. Increasing deficits heighten the pressure on public authorities to legitimate public spending and to find savings. Existing studies show that the influence of research-based information on decision making is shaped by several factors, but they typically do not distinguish between different types of information. Our contribution aims to compare the influence of efficiency analysis to information about performance effectiveness. We do so by looking at 10 cases in which public policies are being revised at the federal level in Switzerland, and do so by tracing the entire policy reform process. This qualitative analysis sheds light on which actors use efficiency information, how and under which conditions, and highlights the contribution of efficiency analysis for evidence-based policy-making.



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