David Vogel is the winner of this year’s Regulatory Studies Development Award.

David is the Soloman Lee Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Business Ethics at Berkeley Haas and Professor Emeritus of Political Science. He has published extensively on both environmental management and government regulation.

Over decades David has made major contributions to regulatory studies. His path-breaking publications include National Styles of Regulation (1986), The Politics of Precaution (2012) and California Greenin’ (2018). In these books, and in many other academic outputs, David did not only manage to sketch out broad empirical patterns, but also analysed the historical provenance of regulatory regimes to extract the maximum analytical leverage from them.

To illustrate, David’s monograph National Styles of Regulation describes in great detail the history and development of environmental regulation in Britain and the United States. On basis of this description, he condensed two styles of regulation, deeply rooted in the political culture and societies of these distinct political systems. In doing so, David defies the common sense assumption that the stricter regime in the United States is more effective than the more lenient British regime. This book certainly laid the ground for a comprehensive research programme on regulatory styles.

A more recent example is David’s book The Politics of Precaution in which he compares risk-regulatory regimes in the European Union and the United States. He finds that the European Union and the United States changed their position here: While the United Stated often – up until the 1990s – had adopted stricter standards than policy makers in the European Union, EU standards are nowadays often more ambitious than those across the Atlantic. In his insightful and detailed comparison David not only identifies key drivers of this change, but also explores the causal mechanism through which the EU exports its standards globally.

These are only two examples of how David Vogel contributed to the development of the field and prepared the ground for research programmes in regulatory governance.

The 2023 Majone Prize Committee consisted of Judith van Erp (chair), Colin Scott and Camilo Ignacio González Becerra. The Committee was pleased to receive nine submissions for consideration. Eight of these submissions were single-authored. The jury would like to suggest to the ECPR that in light of the increasing practice of collaborative work in academia, the preference for a single-authored paper might be reconsidered, while maintaining the focus on early career researchers.

The Committee has decided to award the Giandomenico Majone Prize to Nir Kosti, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, for his paper ‘More Discretion, More Regulation? Policy Implementation through Regulation in the United Kingdom, 1991-2022’.

The study focuses on the execution of policies through implementing regulations. When legislators delegate authority to executive bodies, not all policies are translated into regulations and therefore implemented. This paper asks under what conditions delegated power actually becomes regulation. The research suggests that delegation which minimizes discretion – especially in terms of the obligation to regulate and the inclusion of content provisions that specify what regulations must, may and must not do – increases the likelihood of implementation. The paper analyses nearly 45,000 statutory instruments or regulations in the United Kingdom over a period of thirty years, that are analyzed through innovative computational methodologies and Natural Language Processing.

The jury appreciated the clear question, demarcation and conceptualication of the paper. It is a well-delineated contribution, convincingly presented. The data collection and analysis are impressive and sophisticated. The paper’s orientation to regulation as an instrument for implementing and enforcing policies brings us back to the core of the regulatory state and its effectiveness. Effective policy implementation is of paramount importance given the complex and urgent challenges our governments face. The paper offers solid evidence about legislative characteristics that determine policy effectiveness, and enhances our understanding of the relationship between the legislative and executive branches of government. It offers clear implications for legislative quality and design. This policy-relevant paper is a well deserved winner of the Majone Prize.

The Committee would also like to commend the relevant, convincing and well executed paper ‘The Perceived Legitimacy of Regulatory Agencies: Expertise-Based or Reputation-Sourced?’, authored by Dovilė Rimkutė and Honorata Mazepus.

The GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence at the University of Antwerp proudly hosted the 2023 Biennial Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance from 12 to 14 July 2023 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Conference highlights included the Standing Group Award for Regulatory Studies Development for lifetime career achievement, awarded to Professor David Vogel, University of California at Berkeley, the Giandomenico Majone Prize for the best conference paper by a junior member of the profession, awarded to Nir Kosti, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as keynote lectures, round tables, social activities and more.

The conference was a great success, attracting 196 participants who presented and discussed papers in 60 panels. In addition, 19 academics and practitioners were invited to give keynotes or speak at roundtables.

Thanks to Koen Verhoest and the organising team!