Time: 13:00 – 15:00 (GMT+1), Wednesday, 27 May 2020 
Presenter: Dr Alberto Asquer, SOAS University of London
Chair: Professor Victor Murinde, SOAS University of London
Online venue: Click here to join the CGF Seminar Room on Microsoft Teams

Abstract
This study aims to improve theoretical accounts of regulatory responses to emerging technologies by proposing a model of regulatory development which incorporates a role for types of uncertainty and for existing regulatory institutions. Differently from existing theories of regulatory development, the model proposed here posits a sequence of cyclical activities where regulatory responses arise in incremental fashion out of efforts to make sense of emerging technologies and to ponder the applicability of existing regulatory tools. The model is discussed on the basis of the comparison between regulatory responses to the emergence of CRISPR gene editing in the US and the EU in the period 2012-2019. The comparison between the two cases suggests how regulatory responses to emerging technologies are affected by expectations of future technological and regulatory developments and by existing regulatory institutions.

Presenter

Dr Alberto Asquer is Senior Lecturer of Public Policy and Management at the School of Finance and Management of SOAS University of London, where he acts as Director of the Centre for Financial and Management Studies. He is convenor of the MSc Public Policy, Finance and Management programme. After a degree in economics and a doctorate in Italy, he attained a MSc Management and a PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research interests are in the areas of regulation, public sector management and public financial management. Recent works include the books Public Sector Management (with Norman Flynn, SAGE, 2017) Public Sector Revenue (Routledge, 2017), and Regulation of Infrastructure and Utilities (Palgrave, 2018). He published research articles in journals such as Public Management Review, Governance, International Public Management Journal, Water Resources Management, and Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics. He is a qualified chartered accountant and accounting auditor in Italy, where he practiced for both private and public sector clients.