Measuring the effectiveness of code-based schemes• Evaluation of effectiveness (the extent to which a

regulatory scheme achieves its objectives) of codes of conduct is very well possible– Ex ante: as a criterion in ‘private impact assessment’?– Ex post: as the main criterion?

• Forces parties to think about their policy objectives– Even if it’s ‘private’, it can still amount to ‘policy’.– The terms in which to phrase their objectives

(private objectives? wider social goals?)• Effectiveness – enforceability

See http://privateregulation.eu/ and Enforcement of Transnational Private Regulation, edited by Fabrizio Cafaggi, Edward Elgar, 2012.

The ‘who’ Who evaluates the effectiveness of ECC ?

Mode Actors Risk Opportunity

‘Self’ Designers ECC Self-confirmation Increasing transparency within the whole scheme

‘Public’ Agencies Usurpation Increasing legal certainty

‘Private – civil society’

NGOs Lack of authority Strengthening commitment to social welfare

‘Private – professional’

‘meta-regulators’

Limited current availability

Cutting transaction costs and professionalization

The ‘how’Best practices for measuring effectiveness

Use indicators (pieces of information that summarise the characteristics of a system or highlight what is happening in a system)…E.g. ‘number of contractual references to code’…and do design (and agree) them at an early stage to avoid interpretation conflicts… E.g. does a ‘low number of complaints’ indicate a functioning private regulatory regime or the opposite?

Highlight effectiveness trade-offs across policy objectives……always with attention for side-effects beyond policy objectivesE.g. Code endorsement in national law has created barriers for market accessE.g. Competition impact screening of transnational codes. Public-private partnerships: build incentives for self-evaluation……without forgetting the option of involving a professional ‘meta-regulator’E.g. Global Reporting Initiative