Institute for Regulatory Law and Economics

The Institute for Regulatory Law and Economics (IRLE) is an educational and outreach program to sharpen the tools required for principled and thoughtful regulatory decision-making. The Institute is part of Northwestern University's Center on Law, Business, and Economics. The IRLE’s primary objective is regulator education to enable more economically-informed regulatory policy. 

The IRLE framework is organized around five "prisms" of economic analysis: neoclassical economics, innovation and dynamism, institutional and organizational economics, public choice economics, and the innovator’s dilemma. It also uses experimental economics as an experiential learning method. The program provides policy-relevant learning materials, and its flagship event gathers state regulators and staff together for an annual 4-day Socratic workshop to study and discuss the economics of closely-regulated network industries, bringing a clear theoretical framework in law and economics to actual regulatory practice.

Learn more about the Institute's work and faculty.