Indications of Goal Displacement in Regulatory Enforcement Agencies: An Empirical Exploration

This paper describes indications of goal displacement in regulatory enforcement agencies as reported by enforcement professionals from a range of regulatory domains. The findings suggest that the occurrence of this phenomenon in these agencies may be more prevalent and multifaceted than expected. Among the goal-displacement types reported as most impactful were goal narrowing, induced by calamities, goal diversion through ongoing organizational reform, and goal diversion brought upon by strict regimes of output management. A systematic exploration of these various goal-displacement types as conducted here sheds light onto the intricate nature of goal alignment of these agencies.

Does regulatory enforcement improve continuing disclosure? The municipal securities market case of the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative

PurposeThis paper analyzes the impact of increased federal regulatory enforcement from the SEC's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative on municipal debt issuers continuing disclosure practices.Design/methodology/approachWe analyze the changes in continuing disclosure practices by estimating a series of difference-in-differences regressions based on variables representing issuers' changes in regulatory risk after the MCDC. The continuing disclosure data are hand-collected for 827 cities over a seven-year period.FindingsThe empirical findings indicate that increased regulatory enforcement has a significant impact on continuing disclosure compliance. We find increased enforcement has no impact on issuers that already have a higher probability of being monitored by federal regulators. We also find that an increase in continuing disclosure compliance does not automatically increase continuing disclosure timeliness.Practical implicationsThe MCDC lacks monetary penalties for noncompliant bond issuers and no direct regulatory consequences exist for untimely disclosure. Our findings suggest that regulatory enforcement should be followed by adequate sanctions to emphasize the credibility of the enforcement threat and the SEC should consider requiring bond issuers to commit to the timely disclosure of significant information in offering documents.Originality/valueThis paper extends prior studies by analyzing regulatory risk in the market, and the ability of regulation to reduce disclosure compliance deficiencies in the municipal market. By focusing on the MCDC, this study is able to disentangle the impact of regulatory enforcement from the changes in accounting regulation.

Determinants of dispensing antibiotics without prescription in Eritrea: a mixed-method qualitative study on pharmacy professionals’ perspective

ObjectiveAntimicrobial resistance is a global public health challenge. Dispensing of antibiotics without prescription (DAWP), a major contributor to antibiotic resistance, is extensive in Eritrea. This study was, therefore, aimed at deeply understanding, qualitatively, the pharmacy professionals’ perspective on the factors that trigger DAWP and how this practice could be mitigated.DesignA qualitative exploratory study design was employed.SettingDrug retail outlets of Asmara, capital of Eritrea, and pharmaceutical services of Eritrea.ParticipantsThirty pharmacy professionals who were owners and employees of the drug retail outlets stationed in Asmara and six key informants from the pharmaceutical services of all administrative regions of Eritrea, selected purposively, were the study participants.Data collection and analysisThe data were collected using focus group discussions and key informant interviews between March and September 2020. The collected data were transcribed verbatim, translated to English and finally thematically analysed using an inductive approach.ResultsThe main triggering factors were related to the drug retail outlet owners, dispensers, healthcare system and patients. Knowledge and attitude-based motivation, economic interest, inadequate services in health facilities, weak regulatory enforcement, inadequate training, trust and satisfaction of patients, previous successful experience, seriousness of a condition and saving time and money were reported among others as determinants of DAWP.ConclusionsThe triggering factors to DAWP were found to be very complex and some of them were important that might require immediate attention from policymakers. Ensuring readily available and accessible healthcare services, empowering medicines regulation and continuing sensitisation of dispensers are highly recommended to minimise DAWP.

Traumatic injuries due to road traffic accidents (RTA) involving motorized tricycles in Morocco

Road Traffic Accident (RTA) are a major health problem in Morocco. Those involving rear cargo tricycles for passenger transport or mixed transport use require special attention. An 18-month continuous retrospective study was performed. It included all victims of RTA involving at least one tricycle, admitted to emergency department with a documented traumatic injury. The data collected was analyzed by statistical software (SPSS v18.0). The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological, lesional and therapeutic characteristics of stroke’s victims involving tricycles in the region of Grand Casablanca in Morocco. It also highlights the frequency and severity of injuries related to motorized tricycles accidents and the interest of regulatory enforcement to reduce the incidence of these accidents.

Community pressure, regulatory pressure and corporate environmental performance

This article analyses the relationship between community pressure, regulatory pressure and corporate environmental performance. Using a sample of 2192 firm-year observations in environmentally sensitive industries for the period 2007–2012, we find that increased community pressure is negatively associated with corporate pollution levels and thus positively associated with corporate environmental performance. Furthermore, intensified community pressure can strengthen regulatory enforcement, but it cannot increase the size of the government subsidy allotted to environmental issues. Finally, regulatory enforcement partly mediates the relationship between community pressure and environmental performance. This study contributes to the understanding of firms’ environmental management and the interaction of community and regulatory pressure. JEL Classification: G38, M41, Q53, Q56