Risk-based regulatory & enforcement practice

This Executive Forum with Professor Malcolm K. Sparrow examines the role of the “Professional Regulator”, focusing on the practical and operational challenges which are common across regulatory enforcement, compliance or disciplinary functions of government, regardless of the specific industries being regulated.

Regulatory scholarship has traditionally paid much more attention to regulatory policy (the content of the law) than to regulatory practice. This workshop seeks to redress that imbalance. Professor Sparrow has worked closely with professional regulators for more than 25 years, focusing on the strategic and operational dilemmas that are distinctive to harm-reduction or risk-control tasks of government (as distinct from “customer service” roles), which may involve the use of coercive power and associated discretion.