Regulatory Body
A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous jurisdiction over some area of human activity in a licensing and regulating capacity. Examples of responsibilities include strengthening safety and standards, and/or to protect consumers in markets where there is a lack of effective competition. Examples of regulatory agencies that enforce standards include the Food and Drug Administration in the United States and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom; and, in the case of economic regulation, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets and the Telecom Regulatory Authority in India. Legislative basis Regulatory agencies deal in the areas of administrative law, regulatory law, secondary legislation, and rulemaking (codifying and enforcing rules and regulations, and imposing supervision or oversight for the benefit o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Government Agency
A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an Administration (government), administration. There is a notable variety of agency types. Although usage differs, a government agency is normally distinct both from a department or Ministry (government department), ministry, and other types of public body established by government. The functions of an agency are normally executive in character since different types of organizations (''such as commissions'') are most often constituted in an advisory role — this distinction is often blurred in practice however, it is not allowed. A government agency may be established by either a national government or a state government within a federal system. Agencies can be established by legislation or by executive powers. The autonomy, indep ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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License
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreement between those parties. In the case of a license issued by a government, the license is obtained by applying for it. In the case of a private party, it is by a specific agreement, usually in writing (such as a lease or other contract). The simplest definition is "A license is a promise not to sue", because a license usually either permits the licensed party to engage in an illegal activity, and subject to prosecution, without the license (e.g. Fishing license, fishing, Driver's license, driving an automobile, or operating a Broadcast license, broadcast radio or television station), or it permits the licensed party to do something that would violate the rights of the licensing party (e.g. make copie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Consumer Protection
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent businesses from engaging in fraud or specified unfair practices to gain an advantage over competitors or to mislead consumers. They may also provide additional protection for the general public which may be impacted by a product (or its production) even when they are not the direct purchaser or consumer of that product. For example, government regulations may require businesses to disclose detailed information about their products—particularly in areas where public health or safety is an issue, such as with food or automobiles. Consumer protection is linked to the idea of consumer rights and to the formation of consumer organizations, which help consumers make better choices in the marketplace and pursue complaints against businesses. Entities ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bank Regulation
Banking regulation and supervision refers to a form of financial regulation which subjects banks to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, enforced by a financial regulatory authority generally referred to as banking supervisor, with semantic variations across jurisdictions. By and large, banking regulation and supervision aims at ensuring that banks are safe and sound and at fostering market transparency between banks and the individuals and corporations with whom they conduct business. Its main component is prudential regulation and supervision whose aim is to ensure that banks are viable and resilient ("safe and sound") so as to reduce the likelihood and impact of bank failures that may trigger systemic risk. Prudential regulation and supervision requires banks to control risks and hold adequate capital as defined by capital requirements, liquidity requirements, the imposition of concentration risk (or large exposures) limits, and related reporting and public di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rate-of-return Regulation
Rate-of-return regulation (also cost-based regulation) is a system for setting the prices charged by government-regulated monopolies, such as public utilities. It attempts to set prices at efficient (non-monopolistic, competitive) levels equal to the efficient costs of production, plus a government-permitted rate of return on capital. Rate-of-return regulation has been criticized because it encourages cost-padding and because if the rate is set too high, it encourages regulated firms to adopt capital-labor ratios that are too high. That is known as the Averch–Johnson effect, or simply "gold-plating." Under rate-of-return regulation, regulated monopolies have no incentive to minimize their capital purchases, since prices are set equal to their costs of production. Rate-of-return regulation was dominant in the US for a number of years in the government regulation of utility companies and other natural monopolies. Such companies, if not regulated, could easily charge far higher ra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Price-cap Regulation
Price-cap regulation is a form of incentive regulation capping the prices that firms in a natural monopoly position may charge their customers. Designed in the 1980s by UK Treasury economist Stephen Littlechild, it has been applied to all privatised British network utilities. It is contrasted with both rate-of-return regulation, with utilities being permitted a set rate of return on capital, and with revenue-cap regulation, with total revenue being the regulated variable. Functioning Price-cap regulation adjusts the operator's prices according to * the price cap index that reflects the overall rate of inflation in the economy, * the ability of the operator to gain efficiencies relative to the average firm in the economy, and * the inflation in the operator's input prices relative to the average firm in the economy. Revenue cap regulation attempts to do the same thing but for revenue, rather than prices. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Economic Regulation
Regulatory economics is the application of law by government or regulatory agencies for various economics-related purposes, including remedying market failure, protecting the environment and economic management. Regulation Regulation is generally defined as legislation imposed by a government on individuals and private sector firms in order to regulate and modify economic behaviors. Conflict can occur between public services and commercial procedures (e.g. maximizing profit), the interests of the people using these services (see market failure), and also the interests of those not directly involved in transactions ( externalities). Most governments, therefore, have some form of control or regulation to manage these possible conflicts. The ideal goal of economic regulation is to ensure the delivery of a safe and appropriate service, while not discouraging the effective functioning and development of businesses. For example, in most countries, regulation controls the sale and co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Public Utility
A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to statewide government monopolies. Public utilities are meant to supply goods and services that are considered essential; water, gas, electricity, telephone, waste disposal, and other communication systems represent much of the public utility market. The transmission lines used in the transportation of electricity, or natural gas pipelines, have natural monopoly characteristics. A monopoly can occur when it finds the best way to minimize its costs through economies of scale to the point where other companies cannot compete with it. For example, if many companies are already offering electricity, the additional installation of a power plant will only disadvantage the consumer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Competition Law
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust law (or just antitrust), anti-monopoly law, and trade practices law; the act of pushing for antitrust measures or attacking monopolistic companies (known as trusts) is commonly known as trust busting. The history of competition law reaches back to the Roman Empire. The business practices of market traders, guilds and governments have always been subject to scrutiny, and sometimes severe sanctions. Since the 20th century, competition law has become global. The two largest and most influential systems of competition regulation are United States antitrust law and European Union competition law. National and regional competition authorities across the world have formed international support and enforcement networks. Modern competition law ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Competition Regulator
A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of markets. It identifies and corrects practices causing market impediments and distortions through competition law (also known as antitrust law). In general it is a government agency, typically a statutory authority, sometimes called an Regulatory agency, economic regulator, that administrative law, regulates and enforces competition laws and may sometimes also enforce consumer protection laws. In addition to such agencies, there is often another body responsible for formulating competition policy. Many nations implement competition laws, and there is general agreement on acceptable standards of behaviour. The degree to which countries enforce their competition policy varies substantially. Competition regulators may also regulate certain aspects of mergers and acquisitions and business alliances and regulate or prohibit cartels and monopoly, monopolies. Other government agencies may have responsibilities in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fine (penalty)
A fine or mulct (the latter synonym typically used in Civil law (common law), civil law) is a penalty of money that a court of law or other authority decides has to be paid as punishment for a crime or other Offense (law), offense. The amount of a fine can be determined case by case, but it is often announced in advance. The most usual use of the term is for financial punishments for the commission of crimes, especially minor crimes, or as the settlement (law), settlement of a Claim (legal), claim. One typical example of a fine is money paid for violations of traffic laws. In English law, English common law, relatively Standard scale, small fines are used either in place of or alongside community service orders for low-level criminal offences. More considerable fines are also given independently or alongside shorter prison sentences when the judge or magistrate considers a large amount of retribution is necessary, but there is unlikely to be a significant danger to the public. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Decision-making
In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either Rationality, rational or irrational. The decision-making process is a reasoning process based on assumptions of value (ethics and social sciences), values, preferences and beliefs of the decision-maker. Every decision-making process produces a final choice, which may or may not prompt action. Research about decision-making is also published under the label problem solving, particularly in European psychological research. Overview Decision-making can be regarded as a Problem solving, problem-solving activity yielding a solution deemed to be optimal, or at least satisfactory. It is therefore a process which can be more or less Rationality, rational or Irrationality, irrational and can be based on explicit knowledge, explicit or tacit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |