Institutions and risk management: problem-solvers or blame-shifters?

This paper draws on research on comparative risk regulation regimes (RRRs) in the UK to offer some general reflection on the institutional effects to attempts to increase openness in risk regulation and management. Increasing openness is defined for this purpose as involving some or all of the following three elements: greater transparency in procedure; wider participation in some or all elements of RRRs; heightened accountability in terms of pressures and obligations on the part of those responsible for regulating and managing risks to explain and justify behaviour to others