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SAFETY‐RELATED DEFECTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES AND THE EVALUATION OF SELF‐REGULATION *
Author(s) -
Tobin Richard J.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.1982.tb00458.x
Subject(s) - government (linguistics) , government regulation , business , administration (probate law) , safe harbor , public economics , law and economics , economics , law , political science , philosophy , linguistics , china
Tobin reviews the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) self‐regulating program including recall of vehicles, the ever‐changing definition of defects, frequency of defect reports, and the notification of vehicle owners. He concludes that self‐regulation–while minimizing government's cost and involvement in the private sector–has serious defects of its own. It gives manufacturers too much latitude in determining the existence of a defect and makes government overly dependent on the manufacturers for information. Under self‐regulation the definition of what constitutes a defect changes from year‐to‐year; and under it manufacturer's recalcitrance in acknowledging a defect has kept the NHTSA from ordering recalls.