http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/48400959

Federal Regulations: Efforts to Estimate Total Costs and Benefits of Rules

Cost-benefit analysis has long been used to try and measure the effects of individual regulatory actions, and underlies at least part of many attempts to assess the cumulative effects of regulations on society. Some policy makers have expressed an interest in cost-benefit analysis and in developing an accurate measure of total regulatory costs as a first step in developing a "regulatory budget" that would set a cap on compliance costs Although measuring total regulatory costs and benefits is inherently difficult (e.g. determining what effects would have occurred in the absence of the regulation and aggregating the results of studies with different methodologies and quality), estimates of regulatory costs have been widely cited by policymakers, the media, and others. This report examines one widely cited report to illustrate the complexities of this type of analysis.

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