IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v5y2011i1p43-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond the fear of discretion: Flexibility, performance, and accountability in the management of regulatory bureaucracies

Author

Listed:
  • Roberto R. C. Pires

Abstract

This study explores the implications of different approaches to performance management for inspection work and regulatory outcomes. It assesses to what extent variations in methods for controlling discretion explain why in some cases regulatory inspectors limit themselves to the narrow boundaries of their formal mandate, while in other cases they work collaboratively with inspected firms and other organizations to develop innovative strategies that solve complex regulatory and business problems. After reviewing alternative approaches to the management of discretion, I present a natural experiment that offered an opportunity for controlled comparisons of two current attempts to reconcile bureaucratic performance with accountability: New Public Management and Experimentalist Governance. Case comparisons in the area of labor inspection in Brazil – involving severance payments, fraudulent cooperatives, and safety in construction – suggest that these two approaches to the management of regulatory bureaucracies produce considerably different inspection strategies and regulatory outcomes. The different accountability mechanisms and investigation strategies inspired by each of these approaches create different sets of incentives with direct effects on inspectors' motivation and their ability to resolve compliance problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Roberto R. C. Pires, 2011. "Beyond the fear of discretion: Flexibility, performance, and accountability in the management of regulatory bureaucracies," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 43-69, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:5:y:2011:i:1:p:43-69
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-5991.2010.01083.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2010.01083.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2010.01083.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gibson, James L. & Caldeira, Gregory A. & Spence, Lester Kenyatta, 2002. "The Role of Theory in Experimental Design: Experiments Without Randomization," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 362-375.
    2. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    3. McCubbins, Mathew D & Noll, Roger G & Weingast, Barry R, 1987. "Administrative Procedures as Instruments of Political Control," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 243-277, Fall.
    4. Roberto PIRES, 2008. "Promoting sustainable compliance: Styles of labour inspection and compliance outcomes in Brazil," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(2-3), pages 199-229, June.
    5. Parker,Christine, 2002. "The Open Corporation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521818902.
    6. Braithwaite, John, 2006. "Responsive regulation and developing economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 884-898, May.
    7. McDermott, Rose, 2002. "Experimental Methodology in Political Science," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(4), pages 325-342.
    8. Michael J. PIORE & Andrew SCHRANK, 2008. "Toward managed flexibility: The revival of labour inspection in the Latin world," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(1), pages 1-23, March.
    9. Susan S. Silbey & Ruthanne Huising & Salo V. Coslovsky, 2009. "The Sociological Citizen : Recognizing Relational Interdependence in Law and Organizations," Post-Print hal-02311931, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Salo Coslovsky, 2013. "Enforcing Food Quality and Safety Standards in Brazil," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 649(1), pages 122-138, September.
    2. Rodrigo Canales, 2014. "Weaving Straw into Gold: Managing Organizational Tensions Between Standardization and Flexibility in Microfinance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-28, February.
    3. Jodi L. Short, 2021. "The politics of regulatory enforcement and compliance: Theorizing and operationalizing political influences," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 653-685, July.
    4. Bärbel R. Dorbeck‐Jung & Mirjan J. Oude Vrielink & Jordy F. Gosselt & Joris J. Van Hoof & Menno D. T. De Jong, 2010. "Contested hybridization of regulation: Failure of the Dutch regulatory system to protect minors from harmful media," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(2), pages 154-174, June.
    5. Matthew Amengual & Janice Fine, 2017. "Co‐enforcing Labor standards: the unique contributions of state and worker organizations in Argentina and the United States," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 129-142, June.
    6. Amengual, Matthew, 2010. "Complementary Labor Regulation: The Uncoordinated Combination of State and Private Regulators in the Dominican Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 405-414, March.
    7. Ravi KANBUR & Lucas RONCONI, 2018. "Enforcement matters: The effective regulation of labour," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 157(3), pages 331-356, September.
    8. Roberto PIRES, 2008. "Promoting sustainable compliance: Styles of labour inspection and compliance outcomes in Brazil," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(2-3), pages 199-229, June.
    9. Youbin KANG, 2021. "The rise, demise and replacement of the Bangladesh experiment in transnational labour regulation," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 407-430, September.
    10. Mia Rahim & Shawkat Alam, 2014. "Convergence of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance in Weak Economies: The case of Bangladesh," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(4), pages 607-620, June.
    11. Michael J. Piore, 2011. "Beyond Markets: Sociology, street‐level bureaucracy, and the management of the public sector," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 145-164, March.
    12. Fiona Haines, 2011. "Addressing the risk, reading the landscape: The role of agency in regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 118-144, March.
    13. Wenjia ZHUANG & Kinglun NGOK, 2014. "Labour inspection in contemporary China: Like the Anglo-Saxon model, but different," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 153(4), pages 561-585, December.
    14. Andrew Schrank, 2013. "From disguised protectionism to rewarding regulation: The impact of trade‐related labor standards in the Dominican Republic," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(3), pages 299-320, September.
    15. Chikako Oka, 2014. "Evaluating a Promising Model of Non-State Labor Regulation: The Case of Cambodia's Apparel Sector," Post-Print hal-03181247, HAL.
    16. Salo V. Coslovsky, 2011. "Relational regulation in the Brazilian Ministério Publico: The organizational basis of regulatory responsiveness," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 70-89, March.
    17. David WEIL, 2008. "A strategic approach to labour inspection," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(4), pages 349-375, December.
    18. Berliner, Daniel & Greenleaf, Anne & Lake, Milli & Noveck, Jennifer, 2015. "Building Capacity, Building Rights? State Capacity and Labor Rights in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 127-139.
    19. Ronconi, Lucas, 2015. "Enforcement and the Effective Regulation of Labor," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7296, Inter-American Development Bank.
    20. Rodrigo Canales, 2011. "Rule bending, sociological citizenship, and organizational contestation in microfinance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 90-117, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:5:y:2011:i:1:p:43-69. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.