Regulatory and fiscal changes
Almost every systemic change involves legislation and the state at some point. There are a few exceptions, such as the rise of new online infrastructures for retailing. But every movement involved in profound change, from the environment to equality, has depended on recognition of its principles in law. New legislative and regulatory architectures can be the keys to unlocking systemic change, whether through new rights or new trading or building standards, social and environmental performance requirements, or new ways of handling or measuring value.
New rights
New rights such as rights to care, rights to schooling or rights to vote. These are usually the result of a long period of campaigning, and...
Read moreNew responsibilities
New responsibilities such as responsibilities to care for children, or producer responsibility for reducing carbon emissions and environmental pollution. Another promoter and diffuser of innovation is...
Read moreNew forms of property
New forms of property, such as establishing owner’s ‘use it or lose it’ responsibilities for particular assets; propertising formerly free goods such as airwaves or the...
Read moreLegal Bans
These can be a powerful tool, though usually in conjunction with other methods. Examples include bans on smoking in Europe, on advertising billboards in São Paolo,...
Read moreEnforcement
A related point is the serious enforcement of new laws, for example on polluters, domestic violence or forced marriages....
Read moreFormal classifications
Formal classifications can shift systems, for example through redefining what counts as recycling and therefore eligible for particular grants/prices; or redefining chronic drug use as a...
Read moreTargets with penalties
Targets with penalties and various quasi-market schemes as in packaging regulations, or the UK Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme....
Read moreRegulatory requirements
Regulatory requirements, for example, that all towns and villages with more than 2,000 inhabitants should have separate bio waste collection as proposed in the EU’s draft...
Read moreTax and fiscal structures
Recalibrating markets through for example, fiscal and pricing regimes such as the German (now Europe-wide) feed-in tariffs for renewable energy. These provide access to markets (i.e....
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