Author: Sharon Yadin

Dr. Sharon Yadin is a Senior Lecturer of Law and Regulation at the Yezreel Valley College School of Public Administration and Public Policy. Her research explores government agencies’ soft regulatory approaches, particularly regulatory shaming and regulatory agreements, as well as regulatory and legislative transparency, and corporate disinformation and obstruction in regulatory contexts. She has authored dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters, as well as three books, most recently "Fighting Climate Change Through Shaming", published by Cambridge University Press.

Regulation as Agreement: Rethinking the Hard–Soft Divide

Introduction

It is common to view agreements between regulators and regulated entities, such as enforcement settlements, voluntary compliance agreements, and even permits and licenses, as a specific regulatory tool grounded in negotiation, exchange, and consensus. In a forthcoming article in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, titled “The Hidden Nature of Regulation,” I offer an alternative view and suggest that all types of regulation–including command-and-control (c&c), self-regulation, voluntary programs, regulatory sandboxes, disclosure, and “naming and shaming”– are based on agreements between government regulators and regulated entities (e.g. corporations and businesses).

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