TY  - JOUR
AU  - Krueger,Anne O.
AU  - Duncan,Roderick
TI  - The Political Economy of Controls: Complexity
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4351
PY  - 1993
Y2  - April 1993
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4351
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4351.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Anne O. Krueger
Department of International Economics
SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
1740 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202/587-3238
E-Mail: annekrueger@jhu.edu
AB  - Increasing complexity of regulation over time is a regular empirical phenomenon whenever political processes attempt to control economic activity. In this paper it is argued that a tendency toward increasing complexity of controls is probably inherent in most efforts to regulate, and that the great likelihood that it will occur should be taken into account in initial policy formulation. Economic policy analyses may be correct as formulated on the assumption that the initial policies will be adopted and not be altered, but be wrong if it is recognized that increased complexity may be an inevitable cost of the policy.
ER  -