Measurement for Dummies? Exploring the Role of Regulatory Metrics and Firm Strategy
中文摘要
多数监管规则都是通过指标来落地实施的：数值阈值、目标值或测试程序，将宽泛的政策目标转化为可执行的规则。然而，我们对这些指标如何塑造企业的战略行为知之甚少。本文旨在填补这一空白，研究美国汽车监管中侧面碰撞假人（side impact dummy，SID）的引入，该假人确立了一项基于男性平均体型大小的监管指标。利用美国车辆事故的详细数据，我发现该监管规则大幅降低了侧面碰撞致死人数，但对体型与SID相近的乘员而言，其获益却不成比例地更大。此外，这一模式是由企业的异质性行为驱动的：部分企业在所有乘员上都实现了安全改进，而另一些企业则仅狭隘地聚焦于满足该指标。这一现象受到两个因素的调节：企业与安全战略的一致性，以及其基于指标的能力。只有在这两个维度上兼备的企业，才能按照政策目标实现广泛的改进。这些发现凸显了监管指标在引导企业注意力与投入方面的强大作用。因此，一项监管规则的最终影响不仅取决于政策制定者度量什么，还取决于哪些企业有动机和能力以与政策一致的广泛方式对其采取行动。本文由Toby Stuart（创业与创新领域）接收。补充材料：在线附录和数据文件可在 https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.01987 获取。
Abstract
Most regulations are operationalized through metrics: numerical thresholds, targets, or test procedures that translate broad policy objectives into enforceable rules. Yet we know little about how these metrics shape firms’ strategic behavior. This paper aims to fill this gap by studying the introduction of the side impact dummy (SID) in U.S. automotive regulation, which established a regulatory metric based on the average male-sized body. Using detailed data on U.S. vehicular accidents, I find that the regulation led to large reductions in side-impact fatalities, but there were disproportionate benefits for occupants whose body sizes resembled SID. Furthermore this pattern is driven by heterogeneous firm behavior: Some firms delivered safety improvements across all occupants, whereas others focused narrowly on meeting the metric. This was moderated by two factors: firms’ strategic alignment with safety and their metric-based capabilities. Only firms with both dimensions were able to make broad improvements in line with policy objectives. These findings underscore the powerful role of regulatory metrics in channeling firm attention and effort. The ultimate impact of a regulation therefore depends not only on what policymakers measure but also which firms have the motivation and capabilities to act on them in a broad policy-consistent way. This paper was accepted by Toby Stuart, entrepreneurship and innovation. Supplemental Material: The online appendices and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.01987 .