ABSTRACT
A fourth key element in contemporary risk management debates (more often implicit than fully articulated) turns on whether or not there is a reliable knowledge base on which to ground effective institutional design for risk management, and the extent to which the orthodox engineering approach to “design” can feasibly be extended to complex organizational structures, especially in social and sociotechnical systems. The majority of recommendations for change which come in the aftermath of major events/ incidents/accidents, tend to be social and administrative, but it is in this very area (especially where complex systems are involved) where the greatest doubts arise about the reliability of the knowledge base on which institutional design can be built.
