In search for evidence-based regulatory enforcement

The expectations of regulatory enforcement in our present-day society seem to be sky-high. But the constraints are ambiguous. One the one hand politicians favor lower costs of inspections, more trust to companies and more integration of inspections. On the other hand enforcement is needed to ban all dominant risks and warrant safety. Between these positions, regulatory enforcers need to clarify their ambitions. What can be expected of inspections and what cannot? In the Netherlands a case is made for growing insight in the effects of inspections. A distinction must be made between compliance effects and societal effects. Most regulatory agencies nowadays are able to inform the public about compliance levels and the causal relation with their work. Less information is available on the effects of inspections on societal goals. What happens with the quality of the environment? Do school-performances improve? The paper enlightens some of the insights attained with research on effectiveness and formulates recommendations pointed at researchers, inspectors and policy-makers on how to realize these kinds of projects.