The diffusion of regulatory impact analysis – Best practice or lesson‐drawing?

Abstract This article presents the main results of a research project on regulatory impact analysis (RIA) in comparative perspective. Its main theoretical thrust is to explore the limitations of the conventional analysis of RIA in terms of de‐contextualised best practice and provide an alternative framework based on the lesson‐drawing literature. After having discussed how demand and supply of best practice emerge in the OECD and the European Union, some analytic (as opposed to normative) lessons are presented. The main lessons revolve around the politics of problem definition, the nesting of RIA into wider reform programmes, the political malleability of RIA, the trade‐off between precision and administrative assimilation, the roles of networks and watchdogs, and institutional learning. The conclusions discuss the implications of the findings for future research.