Accountability and regulatory authorities

Two developments characterize the current debate on accountability of regulatory agencies. First, the consideration that regulators should be independent by design complicates straightforward hierarchical lines of authority to political principals. Second, internationalization of markets has forced regulators into the international arena, also raising a number of accountability concerns. Against this backdrop, this chapter maps out four major conceptual challenges in the literature, including the purpose of accountability, its nature, the level of analysis, and its scope. The empirical issues arising from reconceptualization are also addressed, including an empirical illustration to substantiate the ideas of relational and perceptual accountability. The chapter concludes by formulating a set of research foresights, suggesting scholars interested in regulatory authorities and accountability should focus particularly on the behavioral, relational, transnational, and normative challenges that likely characterize future lines of research.