Regulation Research Conference 2023 Program

Regulatory instruments aim to elicit a concrete response on the part of the regulatory addressees. This reaction regularly consists of a concrete action or omission. To obtain such a behavior, the law may use different regulatory instruments. Some seek to deter disapproved behavior (“stick”), others rely on rewards (“carrots”) to induce desired behavior. Law thus makes use of the insights of economics and social psychology to achieve the most precise control of behavior. But what happens when different people respond differently to such incentives? What frightens one person off leaves another cold. Do we need different regulatory instruments for different groups? Or do we need fully personalized law that provides for each person exactly the regulatory instruments that best govern them? Can AI be used to target individual people or would that be the end of government regulation?