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US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pesticide regulatory policy only requires environmental impact and safety testing and labeling of the active ingredients of pesticide products, rather than the end use formula. This policy is thought to partially explain the conflicting outcomes of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and EPA assessments on glyphosate, and there is substantial scientific evidence that this approach has led to an underestimation of risk. In this paper, we present a review of EPA pesticide policy governing the regulation of active and other ingredients and findings from a survey of US agricultural scientists focused on their views of this EPA policy. The survey findings indicate that the scientists we surveyed support a more comprehensive approach to the regulation of pesticide products, including both active and inert ingredients, as well as the end use product, to test for combined effects. They also support the disclosure and labeling of inert ingredients to support independent testing of these chemicals. The results also indicate that university scientists oriented towards public science are more likely to support regulation than university scientists oriented towards private science. Overall, despite substantial evidence that the combination of all ingredients in pesticide products may be more toxic than the active ingredients alone, the current regulatory approach does not provide a pathway for the agency to respond to this science. In this sense, the scientific support for the agency’s current regulatory approach is unclear.

Ukrainian agriculture creates 12-14% of GDP. Ensuring the conditions for sustainable economic development implies the use of adequate mechanisms for regulating economic processes by the government. In the process of formation and implementation of the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy, a system of indicators plays an important role in assessing the impact of such policy on the participants, monitoring and, in case of the deviation from planned results, adjusting regulatory measures. This research analyzes and systematizes the indicators that determine the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy effectiveness in agriculture. The systematization of indicators to evaluate the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy effectiveness in agriculture has allowed substantiating the methodological principles of its integrated assessment. Application of the proposed methodological approach to assessing the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy effectiveness in agriculture in Ukraine was performed during 2010, 2016-2017 period. It revealed slow progress in the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy efficiency during the investigated period. This result is primarily attributed to the lack of purposeful, systematic change management, the lack of mid-term planning, the strictness of most programs, imperfect financial instruments of the organizational and economic mechanism, and procedures for application.

More than 200 new infrastructure regulators have been created around the world in the last 15 years. They were established to encourage clear and sustainable long-term economic and legal commitments by governments and investors to encourage new investment to benefit existing and new customers. There is now considerable evidence that both investors and consumers—the two groups that were supposed to have benefited from these new regulatory systems—have often been disappointed with their performance. The fundamental premise of this book is that regulatory systems can be successfully reformed only if there are independent, objective and public evaluations of their performance. Just as one goes to a medical doctor for a regular health checkup, it is clear that infrastructure regulation would also benefit from periodic checkups. This book provides a general framework as well as detailed practical guidance on how to perform such “regulatory checkups.”.

Ukrainian agriculture creates 12-14% of GDP. Ensuring the conditions for sustainable economic development implies the use of adequate mechanisms for regulating economic processes by the government. In the process of formation and implementation of the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy, a system of indicators plays an important role in assessing the impact of such policy on the participants, monitoring and, in case of the deviation from planned results, adjusting regulatory measures. This research analyzes and systematizes the indicators that determine organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy effectiveness in agriculture. The systematization of indicators to evaluate organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy effectiveness in agriculture has allowed to substantiate the methodological principles of its integrated assessment. Application of the proposed methodological approach to assessing the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy effectiveness in agriculture in Ukraine was performed during the 2010, 2016-2017 period. It revealed a slow progress in the organizational and economic mechanism of regulatory policy efficiency during the investigated period. This result is primarily attributed to the lack of purposeful, systematic change management, the lack of mid-term planning, the strictness of most programs, imperfect financial instruments of the organizational and economic mechanism, and procedures for application.

The Schumpeterian process of 'creative destruction' is an essential ingredient of a dynamic economy. In many countries around the world, however, this process is weakened by pervasive regulation of product and factor markets. This book documents the regulatory obstacles faced by firms, particularly in developing countries, and assesses their implications for firm renewal and macroeconomic performance. Combining a variety of methodological approaches--analytical and empirical, micro and macroeconomic, single- and cross-country-- the book provides evidence that streamlining the regulatory framework would have a significant social pay-off, particularly in developing countries that are also burdened by weak governance. The book's chapters trace out analytically and empirically the links between microeconomic policies and distortions, on the one hand, and aggregate performance in terms of productivity, growth and volatility, on the other. The volume adds to a novel but increasingly influential literature that seeks to understand macroeconomic phenomena from a microeconomic perspective, and derive the relevant lessons for development policy. Such literature is still fairly scarce in the case of industrial countries, and virtually in its infancy for developing countries.

This article empirically investigates the competitive effects of government bail-out policies. We construct a measure of bail-out perceptions by using rating information. From there, we construct the market shares of insured competitor banks for any given bank, and analyze the impact of this variable on banks' risk-taking behavior, using a large sample of banks from OECD countries. Our results suggest that government guarantees strongly increase the risk-taking of competitor banks. In contrast, there is no evidence that public guarantees increase the protected banks' risk-taking, except for banks that have outright public ownership. These results have important implications for the effects of the recent wave of bank bail-outs on banks' risk-taking behavior.

Economists generally assume that the state has sufficient institutional capacity to support markets and levy taxes. This paper develops a framework where \"policy choices\" in market regulation and taxation are constrained by past investments in legal and fiscal capacity. It studies the economic and political determinants of such investments, demonstrating that legal and fiscal capacity are typically complements. The results show that, among other things, common interest public goods, such as fighting external wars, as well as political stability and inclusive political institutions, are conducive to building state capacity. Some correlations in cross-country data are consistent with the theory.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1452767.].

We use data from internal assessments of audit quality in a Big 4 firm to investigate the impact of audit firm tenure and auditor-provided non-audit services (NAS) on audit quality. We find that first-year audits receive lower assessments of audit quality and that quality improves shortly thereafter and then declines as tenure becomes very long. Partitioning our sample between SEC registrants and private clients, we find that the decline in audit quality in the long tenure range is attributable to audits of private clients. For audits of SEC registrants, the probability of a high quality audit reaches its maximum with very long tenure. We also find that audit fees are discounted for first-year audits but auditor effort is higher than in subsequent years. We find no association, on average, between total NAS fees and audit quality in the full sample but observe that total NAS fees are positively associated with quality for SEC registrants and negatively associated with quality for privately held clients. Our findings are important for regulatory policies related to audit firm tenure and auditor-provided NAS.

Nanotechnology holds immense promise in revolutionising healthcare, offering unprecedented opportunities in diagnostics, drug delivery, cancer therapy, and combating infectious diseases. This review explores the multifaceted landscape of nanotechnology in healthcare while addressing the critical aspects of safety and environmental risks associated with its widespread application. Beginning with an introduction to the integration of nanotechnology in healthcare, we first delved into its categorisation and various materials employed, setting the stage for a comprehensive understanding of its potential. We then proceeded to elucidate the diverse healthcare applications of nanotechnology, spanning medical diagnostics, tissue engineering, targeted drug delivery, gene delivery, cancer therapy, and the development of antimicrobial agents. The discussion extended to the current situation surrounding the clinical translation and commercialisation of these cutting-edge technologies, focusing on the nanotechnology-based healthcare products that have been approved globally to date. We also discussed the safety considerations of nanomaterials, both in terms of human health and environmental impact. We presented the in vivo health risks associated with nanomaterial exposure, in relation with transport mechanisms, oxidative stress, and physical interactions. Moreover, we highlighted the environmental risks, acknowledging the potential implications on ecosystems and biodiversity. Lastly, we strived to offer insights into the current regulatory landscape governing nanotechnology in healthcare across different regions globally. By synthesising these diverse perspectives, we underscore the imperative of balancing innovation with safety and environmental stewardship, while charting a path forward for the responsible integration of nanotechnology in healthcare. Graphical abstract