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The Futility of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Financial Disclosure Regulation

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  • Omri Ben-Shahar
  • Carl E. Schneider

Abstract

What would happen if cost-benefit analysis (CBA) were applied to disclosure regulations? Mandated disclosure has largely escaped rigorous CBA because it looks so plausible: disclosure seems rich in benefits and low in cost. This article makes two arguments. First, it previews our thesis in More Than You Wanted to Know that disclosure laws do not deliver their anticipated benefits and thus cannot easily pass quantified CBA. Second, it describes a previously unrecognized cost of disclosure, one arising from lawmakers' collective-action problem. With the proliferation of disclosures, each new mandate diminishes the attention that people can give to other information, including all other disclosures. The problem for CBA is lawmakers' inability to coordinate laws across different fields and jurisdictions. This article illustrates this regulatory failure by examining the rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for its recent mortgage disclosure regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Omri Ben-Shahar & Carl E. Schneider, 2014. "The Futility of Cost-Benefit Analysis in Financial Disclosure Regulation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(S2), pages 253-271.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:doi:10.1086/675771
    DOI: 10.1086/675771
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Beshears & James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2011. "How Does Simplified Disclosure Affect Individuals' Mutual Fund Choices?," NBER Chapters, in: Explorations in the Economics of Aging, pages 75-96, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Lee, Jinkook & Hogarth, Jeanne M., 2000. "Consumer information search for home mortgages: who, what, how much, and what else?," Financial Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 277-293, 00.
    3. Ginger Zhe Jin & Phillip Leslie, 2003. "The Effect of Information on Product Quality: Evidence from Restaurant Hygiene Grade Cards," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(2), pages 409-451.
    4. Durkin, Thomas A. & Elliehausen, Gregory, 2011. "Truth in Lending: Theory, History, and a Way Forward," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195172959.
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    Cited by:

    1. Eric A. Posner & E. Glen Weyl, 2014. "Benefit-Cost Paradigms in Financial Regulation," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(S2), pages 1-34.
    2. Y. Svetiev & E. Dermineur & U. Kolanisi, 2022. "Financialization and Sustainable Credit: Lessons from Non-Intermediated Transactions?," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(4), pages 673-698, December.

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