Applied Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA): Methods and Capacities

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Applied RIA in Rome!

Register for our 2012 RIA training courses in Rome   here.

RIA is a highly adaptable policy analysis used in a wide range of administrative contexts to help regulators make the right choices. The Jacobs, Cordova & Associates team is among the world’s best-known Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) experts. We have designed and implemented RIA systems in over 40 countries over 25 years. Our Directors have been instrumental in the global spread of RIA, and our publications and research have defined many of the best of practices in RIA used today to guide country practices.

Our services include:

Client Feedback from Bulgaria:

Jacobs, Cordova & Associates and the Bulgarian Institute for Market Economics (IME) designed a RIA system and website, and trained almost 300 civil servants around the country. The letter from Bulgaria’s Council of Ministers Secretariat reads:

“The project implementation was at a high level. The team of the consortium demonstrated high professionalism, organizational abilities and profound knowledge in the area of impact assessment. In performing the project tasks, both IME and J&A demonstrated excellent skills in training of civil servants in 18 courses. We highly recommend both partners - the Institute for Market Economics and Jacobs and Associates as professional and experts in impact assessment of legislation and policies.”

  • Design and implementation of RIA systems and institutions for governments or agencies;
  • Design of RIA methods to ensure that they fit government priorities and capacities;
  • Development of pilot RIAs as training tools;
  • RIA training at introductory and advanced levels. See our training services here;
  • Start-to-finish RIA preparation for regulatory and private sector clients.

RIA: Using evidence to improve regulation

RIA helps governments makes better regulatory decisions based on information and empirical analysis about the potential consequences of government action. Around 50 countries have adopted forms of RIA to make new regulations. The aim of RIA is to ensure that better policy options are chosen by establishing a systematic and consistent framework for assessing the potential impacts of government action.

The RIA process, when embed­ded in the policy process, trains decision-makers to ask and answer targeted questions, at the begin­ning of the policy cycle, about the need for and goals of regulation, and the possible consequences of government action.

The many methods used in RIA—including benefit-cost, cost-effectiveness, and least-cost tests, and partial tests such as administrative burden and small-business tests—are simply means of giving order to complex qualitative and quantitative information about the potential effects of regulatory measures. RIA is not, however, about analytical precision. Even simple analysis based on qualitative information and stakeholder consultation can help identify better and worse options.

The decision on which methods to use depends on the policy issues being assessed. For example, decisions that are highly constrained by resource limitations might use cost-effectiveness analysis, while decisions in which there are many options, trade-offs in economic and social impacts, and unclear constraints will use benefit cost analysis.

The family of RIA methods from Jacobs, Cordova &  Associates

In that sense, the practice of RIA is highly specific to the context of the policy issue. The art of RIA is in designing a good RIA process that is well adapted to the questions to be answered, and to the resource, timing, and data constraints facing the analysts.

Jacobs, Cordova & Associates has carried out a wide of projects in the art of RIA. See our RIA projects here.