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	Regulatory Impact Assessment	Policy Feedback Analysis
Field	Public Administration	Public Administration
Family	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Year of origin	2008	1993
Originator	OECD (Regulatory Policy programme)	Paul Pierson
Type	Ex ante policy appraisal framework	Theoretical-analytical framework for policy effects on politics
Seminal source	OECD (2008). Building an Institutional Framework for Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA): Guidance for Policy Makers. Paris: OECD Publishing.	Pierson, P. (1993). When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change. World Politics, 45(4), 595–628.
Aliases	Regulatory Impact Analysis, RIA, Impact Assessment of Regulation, Better Regulation Impact Assessment	Policy Feedback Theory Analysis, Feedback Effects Analysis, Policy-as-Cause Analysis, Self-Reinforcing Policy Analysis
Related	4	4
Summary	Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is a systematic, ex ante framework for appraising the likely consequences of a proposed regulation before it is adopted, so that policymakers choose the option that delivers the greatest net benefit to society. Promoted internationally by the OECD as a cornerstone of regulatory quality and 'better regulation,' RIA requires governments to define the problem clearly, identify a full range of options including non-regulatory alternatives, weigh their costs and benefits, consult affected parties, recommend the preferred option, and plan for monitoring. The aim is to replace reflexive rule-making with evidence-based, transparent and proportionate regulation.	Policy feedback analysis examines how policies, once enacted, reshape the politics that follow — turning yesterday's policy effects into today's political causes. Drawing on Paul Pierson's foundational 1993 article 'When Effect Becomes Cause,' it holds that policies are not just outputs of politics but powerful forces that create resources and incentives for groups, build administrative capacities, and shape how citizens understand their interests and their government. By tracing these resource and interpretive feedback effects over time, the method explains why some policies become self-reinforcing and politically durable, why others undermine their own support, and why policy change is often path-dependent and hard to reverse.