Extent of Administrative Regulation in Economic Affairs
| DOI | 10.1177/000271624222100103 |
| Author | Harold D. Koontz |
| Date | 01 May 1942 |
| Published date | 01 May 1942 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
9
Extent
of
Administrative
Regulation
in
Economic
Affairs
By
HAROLD
D.
KOONTZ
ADMINISTRATIVE
regulation
is
almost
coterminous
with
the
field
of
government
control
of
business.
As
government
has
expanded
its
regulatory
controls
over
business,
it
has
found
in
almost
every
case
that
expediency
dic-
tated
the
use
of
administrative
agencies
rather
than
such
older
methods
as
judi-
cial
decision,
legislative
action,
and
spe-
cial
franchise.
Whether
the
growth
of
administrative
regulation
signals
the
coming
of
a
&dquo;managerial
revolution&dquo;-
in
which
persons
in
position
of
man-
agement
come
to
control
economic
and
government
institutions
1-may
not
be
indisputable;
but
there
can
be
no
doubt
that
authority
and
responsibility
are
being
placed
to
an
ever
greater
degree
in
the
hands
of
government
agencies.
Administrative
regulation
necessarily
involves
the
grant
of
wide
ranges
of
discretion
to
commissioners
and
bureau
heads.
And
as
the
subject
matter
of
regulation
expands
into
broader
fields
of
economic
activity
and
covers
more
aspects
of
business
operation,
public
in-
terest
in
the
use
of
administrative
de-
vices
multiplies.
Before
the
present
critical
state
of
international
affairs
and
the
introduc-
tion
of
a
gigantic
defense
program,
there
had
emerged
a
number
of
major
eco-
nomic
areas
in
which
government
con-
trol
of
economic
life
was
placed
entirely
or
principally
in
the
hands
of
admin-
istrative
agencies.
Although
many
of
the
new
controls
which
have
been
ush-
ered
in
by
the
defense
program
and
the
war
may
be
retained
after
the
war,
it
seems
wise
to
segregate
them
from
the
controls
which
were
molded
in
a
more
permanent
form
before
this
crisis.
These
latter
controls
appear
to
be
fairly
well
entrenched,
and
it
would
probably
take
more
than
an
ordinary
&dquo;return
to
nor-
malcy&dquo;
to
dislodge
them.
Moreover,
many
of
the
war
controls
follow
pat-
terns
set
up
by
the
older
types
of
ad-
ministrative
regulation.
On
the
other
hand,
the
extensiveness
of
control
by
the
war
agencies
surpasses
the
prewar
controls,
as
do
the
detailed
character
of
the
wartime
regulations
and
the
breadth
of
discretion
allowed
to
admin-
istrators.
Furthermore,
controls
insti-
tuted
in
an
emergency
have
a
way
of
becoming
permanent,
and
many
of
the
subjects
of
wartime
administrative
regu-
lation
may
find
their
control
continued.
While
the
extensiveness
even
of
pre-
war
government
controls
makes
it
diffi-
cult
to
summarize
the
programs
and
pat-
terns
which
have
existed,
the
principal
features
in
each
field
can
be
briefly
noted.
The
significant
fields
in
which
broad
programs
have
emerged
include
the
public
service
industries,
general
competitive
business,
the
financial
and
exchange
institutions,
the
extractive
in-
dustries,
and
labor.
In
addition
to
these
broad
areas,
one
should
not
over-
look
the
regulatory
effects
of
govern-
ment
assistance
to,
and
ownership
of,
business
at
innumerable
points.
PREWAR
REGULATION
OF
PUBLIC
SERVICE
INDUSTRIES
Included
in
the
public
service
indus-
tries
are
those businesses
which
for
many
years
were
regarded
as
peculiarly
subject
to
government
regulation
of
eco-
nomic
affairs.
They
have
included
the
transportation
businesses
serving
the
1
See
James
Burnham,
The
Managerial
Revolution,
New
York:
The
John
Day
Co.,
1941.
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