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Research Seminar on Contemporary Challenges in Regulatory Governance

Research Seminar on Contemporary Challenges in Regulatory Governance

We are very pleased to be hosting this special research seminar, chaired by Professor Colin Scott, marking the visit to Dublin of two of the most distinguished research scholars in the field of regulatory governance

“Dynamics of Naming and Shaming in 21st century Markets”

Global naming and shaming campaigns against harmful behavior of corporations are now a common feature of modern market governance. Shaming has become one of the core strategies to expose corporate irresponsible behavior and hold individuals and corporations to account in global markets. Shaming campaigns can articulate, express and enforce social norms in the global economy, and fill gaps and complement in global governance and accountability strategies. But the mechanisms and effects of shaming, and thereby its potential to regulate effectively, are poorly understood. This talk presents a dynamic perspective on naming and shaming of corporations, to better understand its working mechanisms. It will develop the argument that rather than directly affecting corporate conduct through the deterrent threat of reputational sanctions, naming and shaming should be understood as a constructivist process of meaning-making. At its best, naming and shaming can spark a spiral of norm-construction and gradual commitment to more stringent social norms. A dynamic account of the shaming process more realistically captures the diversity of potential effects on corporate behavior in networked contexts, but also sheds light on the messy and fuzzy nature of the shaming process. It helps to understand how often, shaming produces rhetorical, rather than meaningful responses or simply fizzles out. In a world overloaded with shaming, we should also ask if there isn’t just too much shaming?

“Regulating Machine Learning: The Challenge of Heterogeneity”

Machine learning, or artificial intelligence, refers to a vast array of different algorithms that are being put to highly varied uses, including in transportation, medicine, social media, marketing, and many other settings. Not only do machine-learning algorithms vary widely across their types and uses, but they are evolving constantly. Even the same algorithm can perform quite differently over time as it is fed new data. Due to the staggering heterogeneity of these algorithms, multiple regulatory agencies will be needed to regulate the use of machine learning, each within their own discrete area of specialization. Even these specialized expert agencies, though, will still face the challenge of heterogeneity and must approach their task of regulating machine learning with agility. They must build up their capacity in data sciences, deploy flexible strategies such as management-based regulation, and remain constantly vigilant. Regulators should also consider how they can use machine-learning tools themselves to enhance their ability to protect the public from the adverse effects of machine learning. Effective regulatory governance of machine learning should be possible, but it will depend on the constant pursuit of regulatory excellence.

  • Read Professor Cary Coglianese's paper in full here

Participant Biographies

Judith van Erp

Judith van Erp is Professor of Regulatory Governance at Utrecht School of Governance. Judith’s research is situated in the interdisciplinary field of Regulatory Governance, and addresses regulatory enforcement and corporate crime. Judith has a strong interest in the role of the media and ‘naming and shaming’ in governing corporate crime, and published various articles on regulatory disclosure; naming and shaming; and framing of corporate crime in the media. She is currently working on a book on naming and shaming corporate crime. Judith leads a research programme 'Authoritative reputations of regulatory agencies', addressing the position and reputation of inspectorates and independent regulatory agencies. She is also involved in a European H2020 project Trust in Regulatory Agencies, (opens in a new window)Tigre, as well as in a research programme on regulating the Platform Economy. Judith's research contributes to regulatory innovation and has impact. She conducted research for the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Safety, the Health Inspectorate, the Competition Authority, and the Gambling Authority. Her advice to the Dutch minister of Finance on external supervision on the Tax Agency led to the founding of a new inspectorate for the Tax Agency. Judith teaches in the Bachelor programme Public Adminstration and Organization Studies; as well as various interdisciplinary courses in Master programme European Governance (a double degree with UCD); the Bachelor Programme PPE and the Research Master course Institutions Think Tank.

Cary Coglianese 

Cary Coglianese is Edward B. Shils Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science; Director, Penn Program on Regulation. Cary Coglianese specializes in the study of administrative law and regulatory processes, with an emphasis on the empirical evaluation of alternative processes and strategies and the role of public participation, technology, and business-government relations in policymaking. The author of more than 200 articles, book chapters, and essays on administrative law and regulatory policy, Coglianese’s recent book projects have included: Achieving Regulatory ExcellenceDoes Regulation Kill Jobs?Regulatory Breakdown: The Crisis of Confidence in U.S. RegulationImport Safety: Regulatory Governance in the Global Economy; and Regulation and Regulatory Processes. He has also recently written on climate change policy, public participation and transparency in federal rulemaking, the use of artificial intelligence by government agencies, voluntary environmental programs, and role of waivers and exemptions in regulatory law. The founding director of the Penn Program on Regulation, Coglianese previously served as Penn Law’s Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs. Prior to joining the Penn faculty, he spent a dozen years on the faculty at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government where he founded and chaired the school’s Regulatory Policy Program and was an affiliated scholar at the Harvard Law School. He also has served as a visiting law professor at Stanford University and Vanderbilt University. A public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), a federal agency that develops recommendations for improving the administrative aspects of government, Coglianese currently serves as the Chair of ACUS’s Rulemaking Committee. He also has served as the chair and co-chair of several committees of the American Bar Association’s section on administrative law as well as a member of the section’s governing Council. At Penn, Coglianese teaches courses in administrative law, environmental law, regulatory law and policy, and policy analysis. The chair of Penn Law’s Government Service and Public Affairs Initiative, he is a faculty affiliate of Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, the Wharton Risk Center, and the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice. In addition, he serves as the faculty director for Penn Law’s executive education program on regulatory analysis and decision-making and teaches periodically in the Wharton School’s executive education program. He founded the Law & Society Association’s international collaborative research network on regulatory governance, served as a founding editor of the international peer-reviewed journal Regulation & Governance, and created and now advises the daily production of The Regulatory Review, a global online publication covering issues of administrative and regulatory law and policy. Currently the chair of a National Academy of Sciences committee studying implications for law and regulation of emerging trends in the maritime sector, Coglianese has served as a member of other Academy committees on performance-based regulation and on ways to improve federal inspections of offshore oil and gas development. He has also served on an Aspen Institute panel on energy governance. He has provided research and advice on various regulatory issues to the Alberta Energy Regulator (Canada), Environment Canada, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Colin Scott

Colin Scott is Professor of EU Regulation and Governance at UCD where he currently serves as Vice President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Principal of UCD College of Social Sciences and Law and Dean of Social Sciences. He has also served as Dean of Law at UCD. He previously lectured at the University of Warwick, the London School of Economics and the College of Europe, Bruges and was a Senior Research Fellow in the Regulatory Institutions Network at the Australian National University. His research addresses themes of effectiveness and accountability of regulation and challenges regulation presents to democratic governance. He has taught in the fields of regulatory governance professional regulation and consumer protection.  Colin previously served as a board member of the Institute of Public Administration, was Convenor of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance, 2016-2021, and has held editorial responsibilities with a number of law and interdisciplinary journals including the Modern Law Review, Law & Policy and Legal Studies.  He is currently an independent member of the National Economic and Social Council and the Irish Research Council and on the Editorial Board of The Conversation UK. He has extensive experience of consultancy with the OECD, the European Commission and with government departments and state agencies in Australia, the UK and Ireland. He was the first Director of the interdisciplinary MSc Regulation at the London School of Economics, established in 1995, was subsequently Director of UCD’s Professional Diploma in Regulatory Governance, commissioned by the Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) for civil servants in 2011-12 and has led education and training programmes for public servants for the European Commission and a wide range of government departments and agencies.

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