Comments on OMB Circular A-4, “Regulatory Analysis” (OMB-2022-0014)

Banzhaf, Spencer (2023): Comments on OMB Circular A-4, “Regulatory Analysis” (OMB-2022-0014).

Abstract

This brief paper offers comments on the draft of the US Management and Budget’s revision to Circular A-4, on Regulatory Analysis. Circular A-4 was written in 2003. It was an excellent document for its time, bringing to bear the most up to date economic data and understanding of the economy. But in that same spirit, it is time the document be updated, especially in light of Executive Order of April 6, 2023 (Modernizing Regulatory Review).

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: benefit-cost analysis, distributional issues, Circular A-4
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D61 - Allocative Efficiency ; Cost-Benefit Analysis; D - Microeconomics > D6 - Welfare Economics > D63 - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement; H - Public Economics > H0 - General

References

Banzhaf, H. Spencer. 2011. “Regulatory Impact Analyses of Environmental Justice Effects.” Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law 27(1): 1-30.

Banzhaf, H. Spencer. 2023. “Distribution and Disputation: Net Benefits, Equity, and Public Decision Making,” Journal of Benefit Cost Analysis, forthcoming. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4449328.

Cecot, Caroline. 2023. “An Equity Blindspot: The Incidence of Regulatory Costs,” Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, 14(1): 35-43.

Robbins, Lionel. 1935. An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science, 2nd ed. London: Macmillan.