SELF-REGULATION AND THE CERTIFICATION OF THEEUROPEAN INFORMATION ECONOMYTHE CASE OF E-HEALTHCARE INFORMATION PROVISION

The trend towards Internet self-regulation is driven both by gov-ernments that feel reluctant to invest in direct regulation (because offreedom of speech concerns or high cots of monitoring and enforce-ment) and by the industry that is under the threat of rising publicconcerns over content (protection of minors, hate speech, e-businessconfidence). Our first model explores how firms voluntarily committhemselves to industry-wide or global codes of conduct and reportinginitiatives. Then we analyze certification mechanisms through whichfirms can credibly signal their commitment to self-regulation schemesin the absence of government enforced regulatory standards and usethe theoretical results to analyze the logic of current decision makingin this area at the European level. Throughout, we illustrate theseconcepts with a large number of global examples and more detailedEuropean level studies....