Experimentalist governance

Bernardo Rangoni

Chapter 25 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Business and Government, 2026, pp 137-142 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This entry introduces the concept of experimentalist governance and explores its relevance to government–business relationships. Originating from the Toyota Production System, experimentalist governance is contrasted with hierarchical governance, offering an inclusive approach where solutions are iteratively revised based on real-world performance. The entry distinguishes experimentalist governance from other modes, such as new, multi-level, and polycentric governance. Drawing on practical examples from European Union (EU) regulation and notably antitrust against Google, the Covid-19 vaccine, and state aid control, it illustrates how the model can work in complex and rapidly evolving regulatory environments. Its key argument is that while experimentalist governance offers a promising approach to navigating uncertainty – where not even the better-informed business knows the best solutions ex ante, it also presents risks – notably the further empowerment of already dominant businesses. It concludes by advocating for a balanced, critical engagement with experimentalist governance, applying to its use its own iterative principles.

Keywords: Experimentalist governance; Iterative regulation; Uncertainty; Business-government power dynamics in regulation; EU competition policy; Google; State aid; Covid-19 vaccine regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035307777
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035307784.00030 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22116_25

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().