Regulatory agencies in response to the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

This article aims to examine the responses of federal regulatory agencies to the public health crisis - the COVID-19 pandemic. We adhere to the understanding that an empirical evaluation of the patterns of response manifested by the agencies during the pandemic plays an important role in the improvement of public function. First, because it aids the task of adapting regulatory activities more quickly to the needs of the current situation. Secondly, because the context of exceptionality created by the pandemic highlights essential features of the regulatory activity in itself: its conditions of execution and functionalities, limitations and potentialities, and, most of all, its importance for minimizing losses in scenarios of structural instability. The data used in this study was gathered from the Official Gazette Diário Oficial da União (DOU) and the websites of the eleven regulatory federal agencies. In our analysis, we only selected measures with an impact on the regulated sector. We found significant heterogeneity in the number of agency responses, partly related to sectorial differences, but mostly arising from asymmetries of institutional capability among these bodies. We also found heterogeneity of content in the responses given by agencies to similar regulatory problems, which suggests the existence of failures in regulatory coordination in urgent need of a solution.

Keywords:
COVID-19; regulatory agencies; emergency regulations; institutional capacity; regulatory coordination