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Fire-Alarm Signals and the Political Oversight of Regulatory Agencies

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  • Hopenhayn, Hugo
  • Lohmann, Susanne

Abstract

In political settings, delegation is often motivated by differences in expertise of costs of information gathering. Even if a political principal is less well informed than a regulatory agency, she can monitor whether the agency is acting in her best interests by taking informational cues from the media, interest groups, and constituents. In response to such "fire-alarm" signals, the principal may engage in political oversight activities. This article examines how asymmetric external information flows give rise to asymmetric political control rules that introduce bias and inconsistency into regulatory outcomes. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Hopenhayn, Hugo & Lohmann, Susanne, 1996. "Fire-Alarm Signals and the Political Oversight of Regulatory Agencies," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 196-213, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:12:y:1996:i:1:p:196-213
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    Cited by:

    1. Heyes, Anthony & Kapur, Sandeep, 2009. "Enforcement missions: Targets vs budgets," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 129-140, September.
    2. Fabio Padovano & Ilaria Petrarca, 2013. "When and how politicians take ‘scandalous’ decisions?," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 336-351, December.
    3. Hansson Lisa, 2012. "The Private Whistleblower: Defining a New Role in the Public Procurement System," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(2), pages 1-28, August.
    4. Urbiztondo, Santiago & Navajas, Fernando & Artana, Daniel, 1998. "La autonomía de los entes reguladores argentinos: Agua y cloacas, gas natural, energía eléctrica y telecomunicaciones," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 6118, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Rodney Fort, 2022. "College sports governance: “Amateurism” enforcement in big time college sports," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 303-322, December.
    6. repec:vuw:vuwscr:19075 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Heyes, Anthony & Kapur, Sandeep, 2009. "Enforcement missions: Targets vs budgets," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 129-140, September.
    8. Shi, Lan, 2009. "The limit of oversight in policing: Evidence from the 2001 Cincinnati riot," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 99-113, February.
    9. Alevy, Jonathan E., 2001. "A Principal-Agent Approach To The Delegation Of Regulatory Authority," 2001 Annual meeting, August 5-8, Chicago, IL 20764, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    10. Roger D. Congleton, 2019. "Fiscal Bargaining and the Implicit Fiscal Constitutions of Liberal Democracies: A Public Choice Perspective," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 15(2), pages 175-198, December.
    11. Patrick A. McLaughlin & Adam C. Smith & Russell S. Sobel, 2019. "Bootleggers, Baptists, and the risks of rent seeking," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 211-234, June.
    12. Lohmann, Susanne & Hopenhayn, Hugo, 1998. "Delegation and the Regulation of Risk," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 222-246, May.
    13. Swank Otto H., 2000. "Seeking information: the role of information providers in the policy decision process," Public Economics 0004004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Özgün AKDURAN-EROL, 2024. "Regulation of Natural Monopoly: The Turkish Electricity Market," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 32(60).
    15. Peter Grajzl, 2011. "A property rights approach to legislative delegation," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 177-200, June.

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