The University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics hosts Federal Agency Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty May 8-9, 2015.
Many federal agencies are required to perform a cost-benefit analysis when designing and evaluating regulations. In important cases, scientific information is incomplete and uncertainties may exceed established knowledge.
When either the marginal costs or marginal benefits of major regulations are uncertain, the White House requires agencies to formally quantify the relevant uncertainties. The Office of Management and Budget does not, however, provide guidance on how to pick an optimal point with the possible range of outcomes. In practice, agencies facing deep uncertainty are left to follow ad hoc rules.
In a series of talks and discussions, this conference will examine what the relevant actors, agencies, courts, Congress, or the President, should do when regulatory choices have to be made in the face of deep uncertainty.
