Influence factors on the quality of regulatory impact analysis in Brazil

Regulatory impact analysis - RIA - emerged as one of the tools that can provide the regulator with greater capacity to understand the impacts of his/her decisions. Its use promotes increased rigor to the process of creating rules, by collecting empirical data, evidence, and information that help decision making. However, studies carried out around the world show relevant inconsistencies in using RIA, including in Brazil. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the factors that influence RIA quality in the country. After conducting document search and interviews with managers of Brazilian regulatory agencies, we identified that RIA's low quality can be explained by factors linked to the bureaucratic context, the political process, the influence of actors, the procedures adopted, and the level of knowledge of civil servants.