The Effects of Institutional Path-Dependence, Political Dynamics and Transaction Costs on the Potential for 'Smart' Regulatory Innovation: An Illustration Utilising the Biofuel Weed Risk Case Study

Abstract

The interviews conducted in the empirical component of the PhD research project that forms the basis of this article focused upon experts' responses to a theoretical co-regulatory risk management model for biofuel weed risk control. This new legal and regulatory approach for weeds control reflects a strategy reflecting three core research themes. These themes include institutional theory (which encompasses social/behavioural thinking, the theories of path dependence and transaction costs), new regulatory and compliance theories such as the concepts of 'smart' regulation and 'responsive' regulation as well as risk theory and commercial risk management techniques. The responses provide some useful insights into broader issues associated with the adoption of more sophisticated environmental risk regulations as an alternative to more traditional regulatory approaches and deregulated environmental market-based instruments. The findings show that institutional path-dependence issues, political impediments and the existence of transaction costs are likely to challenge the implementation of legal and regulatory innovations for improving natural resource management (NRM) legal models and achieve sustainable behavioural change. This analysis also suggests that non-legal theories of path-dependence, public choice and transaction costs can be useful tools to identify barriers to institutional innovations.