Scientific Definition
Fixed compliance costs scale punitively for small firms and entrench large ones.
Plain-English Definition
Fixed compliance costs scale punitively for small firms and entrench large ones.
Feynman Explanation
Regulation can be the moat the regulated paid for.
Core Principle
Fixed compliance costs scale punitively for small firms and entrench large ones.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Fixed compliance costs scale punitively for small firms and entrench large ones.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Compliance is a feature for monopolists.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Regulation can be the moat the regulated paid for.
Examples
- Banking, pharma, and aviation rule-stacks favoring incumbents.
- Compliance is a feature for monopolists.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Tiered compliance. Small-actor safe harbors.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Tiered compliance. Small-actor safe harbors.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
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Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Compliance programs designed to satisfy regulators, not prevent harm.
Charging by time rewards inefficiency and prolongs disputes.
Police agencies that keep seized assets gain a direct fiscal interest in seizures.
Stacking fines on low-income defendants creates debt traps and recidivism.
Decisions made to be defensible, not to be right.
Mandatory federal sourcing from prison factories crowds out small business and entrenches inefficient production.
Contingency-fee structures shape which cases get filed.
Fixed sentencing rules remove judicial discretion and inflate incarceration without reducing crime.
Trial penalties pressure even innocent defendants to plead guilty to avoid risk.
Per-inmate funding makes incarceration a budgetary asset for jurisdictions and contractors.
Caseloads far above professional norms guarantee weak defense for the poor.
Confidential settlements buy silence and prevent precedent that would deter future harm.