Regulation Tracker

The figure below tracks the burden of federal paperwork requirements over time, updated through December 31, 2025. I have developed the two complementary indexes in Regulatory Intensity and Firm-Specific Exposure (RFS 2023). The blue line captures the cumulative number of regulatory mandates (“How many rules?”), while the red line reflects the total estimated compliance time in hours (“How many hours does it take to comply?”). Labels indicate presidential administrations. Both series are normalized, so the levels should be interpreted in relative rather than absolute terms.

The figure below tracks all regulatory activities by all federal agencies based on Federal Register records, updated through December 31, 2025. The underlying Federal Register data are used extensively in Regulatory Similarity (JLE 2024) and Regulatory Fragmentation (JF 2025). The blue line (left axis) reflects the number of documents, and the red dashed line (right axis) reflects the number of words. The labeled black markers highlight months affected by federal government shutdowns, which coincide with sharp but temporary declines in publication activity. Both series are normalized, so the levels should be interpreted in relative rather than absolute terms.

The figure below tracks the volume of regulations under development by federal agencies, updated through March 31, 2025. The indexes are presented in Follow the Pipeline (2023). The solid blue line reflects the total rulemaking activity across all agencies, while the dashed red line isolates financial regulations. Labels mark presidential administrations.

Datasets

1. Regulatory Fragmentation : firm-level data on regulatory fragmentation (intuitively: how many agencies supervise the same topic).
2. Regulatory Similarity : firm-to-firm data on regulatory similarity (intuitively: how similar is the regulatory requirements of two firms).
3. Regulatory Intensity and Firm-Specific Exposure : firm-level data on regulatory intensity (intuitively: how much does the firm pay to comply with federal regulations).
4. Follow the Pipeline : firm-level data on regulatory pipeline (intuitively: how many rule proposals will become final rules).
5. Incentivizing Financial Regulators : employee-level data on incentives & enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
6. Regulatory Risk Perception and Small Business Lending : employee-level data on incentives & loan guarantees at the Small Business Administration.

Papers

1. Equal Job, Unequal Pay? Evidence from 4 Million Regulatory Careers, with Michelle Lowry & Billy Xu. ECGI Finance Working Paper 1114.

   Paper

2. The Deep State and the Liberal Drift of Financial Regulators, with Denis Sosyura & Jason Chen.

   Paper · Slides

3. When Diversity Rules, with Abhinav Gupta, Ravi Ranjan, & Kairong Xiao.

   Paper · Slides

4. Contagious Deregulation, with Jakub Hajda & Billy Xu.

   Paper · Slides

5. Between Boardrooms and the Beltway: The Career Paths of Senior Regulators, with Ran Duchin & Jeffery Wang.

   Paper · Best Paper Award (EFA)

6. Escaping Pay-for-Performance, with Jason Chen & Jakub Hajda. ECGI Finance Working Paper 1055.

   Paper · Slides · Best Paper Award (Wellington Finance Summit) · ECGI Blog · ProMarket

7. Much Ado About Nothing? Overreaction to Random Regulatory Audits, with Sam Antill.

   Paper · Slides

8. Follow the Pipeline, with Suzanne Chang, Jakub Hajda, & Alejandro Lopez-Lira.

   Paper · Data · Slides · Best Paper Award (Sydney Banking Conference)

9. Does Regulatory Exposure Create M&A Synergies?, with Eliezer Fich & Tom Griffin.

   Paper · Slides

10. The Environmental Consequences of Pay Inequality, with Jason Chen.

    Paper · Slides

Presentations & Discussions

Presentations:

The list below includes scheduled and already delivered presentations of papers by me and by my coauthors, from 1/1/2025 through 12/31/2025.

NBER Regulation; Finance, Organizations, and Markets (FOM); PCAOB; Northern Finance Association (NFA); European Finance Association (EFA); American Law & Economics Association (ALEA); Boca Corporate Finance & Governance Conference; UT Dallas; Haskell & White Conference; Erasmus Corporate Governance Conference (ECGC) (X2); City University of Hong Kong (International Finance Conference); University of Connecticut Finance Conference; Forensic Finance (UT Austin); Drexel Corporate Governance Conference; Swiss Society for Financial Market Research; UNC Duke Corporate Finance; Young Scholars TAMU; Finance Down Under; World Finance & Banking Sumposium; RCF-ECGI Corporate Finance and Governance Conference; Southern Finance Association (SFA); Eastern Finance Association (EFA) (X2); Midwest Finance Association (MFA); Bretton Woods Accounting and Finance Ski Conference; Southwestern Finance Association (SWFA); National University of Singapore; Fordham University; Florida State University; University of Florida; Auburn University; University of Texas Austin (McCombs); Babson College; Bentley; New York University

Discussions:

The list below includes several scheduled and already delivered discussions of papers.

1. How Do Multiple Regulators Regulate? Evidence from Fairness Opinion Providers' Conflict of Interest Disclosures (Berger, Geoffroy, Imperatore, and Liu; January 2026).
2. Hard Facts or Cheap Talk? Strategic Communication and Policy Change in Regulatory Rulemaking (Hackinen, Carenini, Tirole, and Trebbi; November 2025).

Misc

1. A Quick Guide for the Perplexed PhD Student: teaching notes for PhD candidates (Updated Version: December 2025)
2. Introduction to Mergers & Acquisitions: lecture at Simon's Meliora Investment Club (November 2025)
3. Understanding the Regulatory Landscape: lecture at Simon's China Advisory Council (August 2025)
4. How DOGE is Dodging the Real Issue: interview for Simon's Dean's Blog (March 2025)
5. Introduction to Regulatory Economics: lecture at Stanford University (May 2024)
6. The Academic Journey: interview for the Simon Business Magazine (November 2023)
7. Seven Insights on Regulation: lecture for Simon's Quick Takes Series (April 2023) (slides)