ABSTRACT
Command-and-Control Regulations Command-and-control policies typically regulate behavior by requiring certain behaviors or forbidding others. The inflexibility of such stipulations can cause inefficiencies when there are numerous solutions to the underlying problem. When given the option, for example, municipalities can achieve water quality standards in the least costly manner. That might involve purchasing infrared lights that sterilize the output of their water treatment plants, rebuilding their sewer system to better manage floodwaters, or adding employees to monitor and reduce the illegal dumping of emissions and waste into nearby water supplies. Different solutions will be cheaper and more productive in different locations, and a rigid mandate that every municipality must purchase infrared sterilization equipment might not be
the most efficient solution in many communities. Regional differences in the costs of capital and labor, and facility-specific differences in the severity of problems and the adaptability of existing equipment, make flexibility desirable for the attainment of technical efficiency.
