Editing Red tape

{{short description|Idiom for excessively bureaucratic procedures or regulations}}
{{About|the idiom referring to excessive bureaucratic regulation}}

'''Red tape''' is a concept employed to denounce excessive or redundant regulation and adherence to formal rules for creating unnecessary constraints on action and decision-making.<ref name="ET">{{cite web |title=What is red tape? |work=[[The Economic Times]] |date=11 December 2007 |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-empower/what-is-red-tape/articleshow/2613130.cms |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20211207100656/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-empower/what-is-red-tape/articleshow/2613130.cms |archive-date=2021-12-07 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/red-tape-awareness-week | title=Red Tape Awareness Week 2025 | publisher=Canadian Federation of Independent Business }}</ref><ref name=Bozeman>{{cite journal | first=Barry | last=Bozeman |author-link=Barry Bozeman | title=A Theory of Government "Red Tape" | journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory | date=1993 | pages=273–303 }}</ref>{{rp|274, 278–9}} The occurrence of red tape is usually associated with governments but also extended to corporations.<ref name="ET" /><ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|273–4}} While the term is intended to describe an institutional pathology, some [[Organizational theory|organizational theorists]] have argued that the existence of practices seen as red tape may be beneficial, and others have pointed to difficulties with distinguishing red tape from legitimate procedural safeguards.<ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|276, 279}}

Red tape is in excess of the necessary ''administrative burden,'' or cost to the public, of implementing government policies and procedures.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Herd |first1=Pamela |author-link1=Pamela Herd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HER0DwAAQBAJ |title=Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means |last2=Moynihan |first2=Donald P. |author-link2=Donald Moynihan |date=2019 |publisher=Russell Sage Foundation |isbn=978-1-61044-878-9 |pages=18 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peeters |first=Rik |date=2019-06-06 |title=The Political Economy of Administrative Burdens: A Theoretical Framework for Analyzing the Organizational Origins of Administrative Burdens |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0095399719854367 |journal=Administration & Society |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=566–592 |doi=10.1177/0095399719854367 |s2cid=195561302 |issn=0095-3997|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burden |first1=Barry C. |author-link=Barry Burden |last2=Canon |first2=David T. |last3=Mayer |first3=Kenneth R. |last4=Moynihan |first4=Donald P. |author-link4=Donald Moynihan |date=2012 |title=The Effect of Administrative Burden on Bureaucratic Perception of Policies: Evidence from Election Administration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41687989 |journal=Public Administration Review |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=741–751 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02600.x |jstor=41687989 |issn=0033-3352|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heinrich |first=Carolyn J. |author-link=Carolyn Heinrich |date=2015-12-08 |title=The Bite of Administrative Burden: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muv034 |journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=403–420 |doi=10.1093/jopart/muv034 |issn=1053-1858|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 
This definition is also consistent with popular usage, which generally views red tape as negative.<ref name=Bozeman />{{rp|276,278–9}}

Red tape can hamper the ability of firms to compete, grow, and create jobs.<ref name=NL>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/redtape/ |title=Red Tape Reduction Initiative &#124; Business |publisher=Gov.nl.ca |access-date=2012-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109084320/http://www.gov.nl.ca/redtape/ |archive-date=2012-11-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Cruz/>
Research finds red tape has a cost to public sector workers, and can reduce employee well-being and job satisfaction.<ref name="burnout"/><ref name=Steijn/><ref name="job demands"/>

In 2005, the UK's ''Better Regulation Task Force'' suggested that red tape reforms could lead to an increase in income of 16 billion pounds per year, an amount greater than 1% of GDP.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Measuring and Managing the Costs of Red Tape: A Review of Recent Policy Developments | journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy | volume=22 | pages=260–273 | doi=10.1093/oxrep/grj016 | number=2 | date=2006 | first=Tim | last=Keyworth }}</ref>
The [[Canadian Federation of Independent Business]] estimated the cost to business of red tape arising from federal, provincial and municipal government regulations was $11 billion in 2020.<ref name=Cruz/>
This represented about 28% of the total burden of regulation for businesses in Canada.<ref name=Cruz>{{cite web | url= https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/research-economic-analysis/canadas-red-tape-report  | date=2021 | title=Canada's Red Tape Report: Sixth Edition | last1=Cruz | first1=Keyli Kosiorek | first2=Laura | last2=Jones | first3=Taylor | last3=Matchett }}</ref>

Some governments have introduced initiatives to limit or cut red tape, such as a one-for-one rule that removes one regulation each time a new administrative burden is imposed on business.<ref name=RTRA/><ref name=Falcon/>
Experience from [[British Columbia]], Canada suggests a successful red tape reduction initiative requires strong political commitment.<ref name=Falcon/><ref name=Jones/>

== Red tape definition ==
The term "red tape" is sometimes employed as "an umbrella term covering almost all imagined ills of bureaucracy," both public and private.<ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|275}}
However, red tape is usually defined more narrowly as government policies, guidelines, and forms that are excessive, duplicative or unnecessary, and that generate a financial or time-based compliance cost.<ref name=Cruz/><ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|276}}
This definition is consistent with popular usage, which generally views red tape as negative.<ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|278-279}}

Whereas red tape refers to unnecessary rules, ''administrative burden'' (sometimes called "white tape") recognizes that regulations that are intended for useful purposes may nonetheless entail a compliance cost.<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Herd |first1=Pamela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HER0DwAAQBAJ |title=Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means |last2=Moynihan |first2=Donald P. |date=2019 |publisher=Russell Sage Foundation |isbn=978-1-61044-878-9 |pages=22 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nisar |first1=Muhammad Azfar |last2=Masood |first2=Ayesha |date=2022-06-28 |title=Are all Burdens Bad? Disentangling Illegitimate Administrative Burdens through Public Value Accounting |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2022.2088581 |journal=Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=385–403 |doi=10.1080/23276665.2022.2088581 |s2cid=250127477 |issn=2327-6665|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=Bozeman/>{{rp|276}}<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Peeters |first=Rik |date=2019-06-06 |title=The Political Economy of Administrative Burdens: A Theoretical Framework for Analyzing the Organizational Origins of Administrative Burdens |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0095399719854367 |journal=Administration & Society |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=566–592 |doi=10.1177/0095399719854367 |s2cid=195561302 |issn=0095-3997|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burden |first1=Barry C. |last2=Canon |first2=David T. |last3=Mayer |first3=Kenneth R. |last4=Moynihan |first4=Donald P. |date=2012 |title=The Effect of Administrative Burden on Bureaucratic Perception of Policies: Evidence from Election Administration |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41687989 |journal=Public Administration Review |volume=72 |issue=5 |pages=741–751 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02600.x |jstor=41687989 |issn=0033-3352|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heinrich |first=Carolyn J. |date=2015-12-08 |title=The Bite of Administrative Burden: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muv034 |journal=Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=403–420 |doi=10.1093/jopart/muv034 |issn=1053-1858|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 
Determining whether a regulation is justified rather than red tape can be difficult.  Nevertheless, making the proper distinction is relevant when implementing reforms, and cutting red tape differs from [[deregulation]].<ref name=Jones/>

==Origins and history==
[[File:NARA Backstage Pass (2011-08) - 14.jpg|thumb|Bundle of US [[pension]] documents from 1906 bound in red tape|left]]
It is generally believed that the term "red tape" originated in the early 16th century with the Spanish administration of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], [[King of Spain]] and [[Holy Roman Emperor]], who started to use red tape in an effort to modernize the administration that was running his vast empire. The red tape was used to bind the most important administrative dossiers that required immediate discussion by the [[Spanish Council of State|Council of State]], and separate them from files that were treated in an ordinary administrative way, which were bound with ordinary string.<ref name="DD">{{cite book|last1=Dickson|first1=Del|title=The People's Government: An Introduction to Democracy|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=New York|isbn=9781107043879|page=176|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnvsAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA176|access-date=13 December 2015}}</ref>

In Britain, [[Charles Dickens]] spoke of red tape in ''[[David Copperfield]]'' (1850): "Britannia, that unfortunate female, is always before me, like a trussed fowl: skewered through and through with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape."<ref name="DD" /> The English practice of binding documents and official papers with red tape was popularized in [[Thomas Carlyle]]'s writings, protesting against official inertia with expressions like "Little other than a red tape Talking-machine, and unhappy Bag of Parliamentary Eloquence".<ref>p.1152, ''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable'', 17th Edition; Revised by J Ayto, 2005</ref> As of the first decade of the 21st century, the British [[barrister]]s' [[Brief (law)|briefs]] continued to be bound with pink-coloured ribbon known as red tape.<ref name="ET" />

In the United States, red tape was used to tie personal records of [[American Civil War|Civil War]] veterans, reputedly making access to them inconvenient.<ref name="DD" />

According to his own annual report for 1921, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Warren G. Harding]]'s [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]] [[Albert B. Fall]], later convicted for his role in the [[Teapot Dome scandal]], set himself the goal of removing "red tape and technicalities" from the management of the department's economic resources to combat [[Economic stagnation|stagnation]].<ref name="KC">{{citation |last=Chamberlain |first=Kathleen Patricia |title=The Controversial Term of Albert Bacon Fall, Secretary of the Interior, 1921–1923 |publisher=Ohio State University |date=1992 |url=https://digital.auraria.edu/files/pdf?fileid=f3b97108-f796-4cbe-b774-cb3729b80de6}}</ref>{{rp|40}} On 23 June 1921, the task handed to [[Scott Cordelle Bone|Scott C. Bone]] on his appointment [[List of governors of Alaska|Governor of Alaska]] on June 23, was to "unravel government red tape".<ref name="KC" />{{rp|39}} Also in 1921, the official explanation for the [[3rd Infantry Regiment (United States)|3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment]]'s strenuous march of 800 miles from [[Camp Sherman, Ohio]] to [[Fort Snelling]] was given as "red tape".<ref>{{citation |last=Smith |first=Hampton |title=Confluence: A History of Fort Snelling |journal=[[Minnesota History (journal)|Minnesota History]] |volume=67 |issue=7 |year=2021 |page=317 |jstor=48769226}}</ref>

In 1938, the [[IG Farben]] chairman [[Carl Krauch]] used the argument that red tape was responsible for previous delivery delays on the part of private enterprise in persuading [[Hermann Göring]], the head of the [[Four Year Plan]], to appoint him as plenipotentiary for the chemical industry over an [[Waffenamt|Army Ordnance]] representative.<ref>{{citation |last=Schweitzer |first=Arthur |title=Business Power Under the Nazi Regime |journal=[[Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie]] |volume=20 |year=1960 |issue=3–4 |doi=10.1007/bf01320054 |page=434}}</ref> In his speech at the meeting of [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] Major-Generals in occupied [[Poznań]] on 4 October 1943, the SS leader [[Heinrich Himmler]] made reference to "red tape" as an example of a potential obstacle to "[[Wunderwaffe|inventions]]" within [[Nazi Germany]]'s armaments industry.<ref>{{citation |author=[[Nuremberg trials#American and British prosecution|Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality]] |title=Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression |volume=4 |publisher=United States Government Printing Office |location=Washington, DC |date=1946 |pages=562–563 |url=https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llmlp/2011525363_NT_Nazi_Vol-IV/2011525363_NT_Nazi_Vol-IV.pdf}}.</ref> In 1947, a contractor who had worked during [[World War II]] under [[Vannevar Bush]] in the [[Office of Scientific Research and Development]] remembered Bush's "impatience with Army red tape", apparently referring to the OSRD's executive secretary Irvin Stewart's organisational efforts.<ref>{{citation |last=Owens |first=Larry |title=The Counterproductive Management of Science in the Second World War: Vannevar Bush and the Office of Scientific Research and Development |journal=[[Business History Review]] |volume=68 |issue=4 |year=1994 |page=540 |doi=10.2307/3117197 |jstor=3117197}}</ref>

As of the early 21st century, Spanish bureaucracy continued to be notorious for extreme levels of red tape (in the figurative sense).<ref name="Graff">{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=Marie Louise |title=CultureShock! Spain |date=2009 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |location=Tarrytown, NY |isbn=9789814435949 |page=57 |edition=6th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRiJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA57}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2025}} In 2013, the [[World Bank]] ranked Spain 136 out of 185 countries for ease of starting a business, which took on average 10 procedures and 28 days.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Buck |first1=Tobias |title=Spain hopes new law to cut red tape will attract entrepreneurs |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/fe6c8276-ca0b-11e2-8f55-00144feab7de.html#axzz3uEEMVxsd |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/XsNM7 |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription |access-date=13 December 2015 |work=Financial Times |publisher=The Financial Times Ltd |date=2 June 2013}}</ref>
Similar issues persist throughout [[Latin America]].<ref name="Graff" /><ref>{{cite book |author1=Jose Luis Guasch |author2=Benjamin Herzberg |chapter=Increasing Competitiveness Through Regulatory and Investment Climate Improvements in Latin America; the Case of Mexico |editor1-last=Haar |editor1-first=Jerry |editor2-last=Price |editor2-first=John |title=Can Latin America Compete? Confronting the Challenges of Globalization |date=2008 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=9781403975430 |page=255 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYzFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA255}}</ref> 
In Mexico in 2009, it took six months and a dozen visits to government agencies to obtain a permit to paint a house.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ellingwood |first1=Ken |title=No stamp of approval for Mexico bureaucrats |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-02-fg-mexico-redtape2-story.html |access-date=13 December 2015 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=2 January 2009}}</ref> 
To obtain a monthly prescription for [[gamma globulin]] for [[X-linked agammaglobulinemia]], a patient had to obtain signatures from two government doctors and stamps from four separate bureaucrats before presenting the prescription to a dispensary.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Malkin |first1=Elizabeth |title=For Redress of Grievances, Mexicans Turn to Bureaucracy Contest |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/world/americas/09mexico.html |access-date=13 December 2015 |work=New York Times |date=8 January 2009}}</ref>
Mexico was the original home of [[Syntex]], one of the greatest pharmaceutical firms of the 20th century—but in 1959, the company left for the American city of [[Palo Alto, California]] (in what is now [[Silicon Valley]]) because its scientists were fed up with the Mexican government's bureaucratic delays which repeatedly impeded their research.<ref name="Gereffi_Page_110">{{cite book |last1=Gereffi |first1=Gary |title=The Pharmaceutical Industry and Dependency in the Third World |date=1983 |publisher=Princeton |location=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400886227 |page=110 |edition=2017 reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q4grDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 |access-date=11 January 2021}}</ref>

==Cost of red tape==
It is impossible to know exactly how much of the burden of government regulations is red tape — ie, is excessive and delivers little or no benefit.  
However, a survey by the [[Canadian Federation of Independent Business]] (CFIB) found red tape represented about 28% of the total burden of regulation in Canada in 2020.<ref name=Cruz>{{cite web | url= https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/research-economic-analysis/canadas-red-tape-report  | date=2021 | title=Canada's Red Tape Report: Sixth Edition | last1=Cruz | first1=Keyli Kosiorek | first2=Laura | last2=Jones | first3=Taylor | last3=Matchett }}</ref>
The total cost of regulation for U.S. business was estimated in 2021 at US$364.3 billion, and for Canadian business in 2020 at US$31.9 billion, or CAN$38.8 billion.<ref>{{cite report | url=https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/research-economic-analysis/regulator...he%20share%20attributed%20to%20red,stood%20at%2032%20per%20cent  | title=Regulatory Costs in Canada and the United States: A Small Business Perspective | publisher=The Canadian Federation of Independent Business | date=February 2022 }}</ref>
This cost represents 1.5% of GDP for the U.S. and 1.7% for Canada.<ref>{{cite web | date=16 February 2022 | title=Regulatory Costs in Canada and the United States: A Small Business Perspective | url=https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/research-economic-analysis/regulatory...he%20share%20attributed%20to%20red,stood%20at%2032%20per%20cent  | publisher=Canadian Federation of Independent Business }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3610022201 |author=Statistics Canada | title=Table 36-10-0222-01 Gross Domestic product, expenditure-based provincial and territorial, annual |date=2018 |publisher=Government of Canada | doi=10.25318/3610022201-eng}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NGDPXDCUSA  | title=Nominal Gross Domestic Product for United States (NGDPXDCUSA) | publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis}}</ref><ref>In 2021, U.S. GDP was US$23,681 billion.  In 2020, Canadian GDP was CAN$2,220 billion.</ref>

The CFIB estimated that the cost of red tape arising from Canadian federal, provincial and municipal government regulations was $11 billion in 2020.  (This excluded [[COVID-19|covid-19]] related costs, to make the amount more comparable to previous years.)<ref name=Cruz/>
The annual cost of red tape per employee was higher for firms with fewer than 5 employees, at $1945, versus $398 for firms with 100 or more employees.<ref name=Cruz/> 

The ''Better Regulation Task Force'' suggested in 2005 that red tape reforms could potentially deliver an increase in income of 16 billion pounds per year, an amount greater than one percent of UK GDP.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Measuring and Managing the Costs of Red Tape: A Review of Recent Policy Developments | journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy | volume=22 | pages=260–273 | doi=10.1093/oxrep/grj016 | number=2 | date=2006 | first=Tim | last=Keyworth }}</ref>
The [[European Union]]'s (EU) "Cutting Red Tape in Europe" report presented suggestions on how to reduce the administrative burden when member states implement EU legislation.<ref name=EU/>
The total administrative burden reduction potential of all recommendations in the report was estimated to exceed 41 billion euros annually.<ref name=EU>{{cite web | author=High Level Group on Administrative Burdens, Edmund Stoiber (Chairman) | title=Cutting Red Tape in Europe: Legacy and Outlook, Final Report | date=24 July 2014 | url=https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/fb18c49a-e601-4207-bbdd-111892fe91eb_en?filename=final-report-of-the-high-level-group_july2014_en.pdf }}</ref>

While a regulation may be useful, the cost of imposing it may exceed the benefits.  The Canadian federal government applies a cost-benefit analysis to most regulatory proposals, which takes into account the cost of the policy to consumers, businesses, and other sectors of society.<ref name=FRMI/>
Since the 1970s, Australian governments have sought to subject regulation to rigorous cost-benefit analysis so as to constrain both the stock and flow of the regulatory burden.<ref>{{cite journal | journal=Australian Journal of Public Administration | title=The 'forever war' on red tape and the struggle to improve regulation | first1=Arie | last1=Freiberg | first2=Monica | last2=Pfeffer | first3=Jeroen | last3=van der Heijden | date=17 January 2022 | volume=81 | issue=3 | doi= 10.1111/1467-8500.12534 | pages=436–454 | url= https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8500.12534 | publisher=Wiley Online Library | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Red tape reduction initiatives==
It can be difficult to distinguish between justified regulatory costs and unneeded regulations.  For this reason, the expression "cutting red tape" has been used to refer to both initiatives to reduce ''unnecessary'' regulation, and to policies to reduce the overall regulatory burden.<ref name=Jones/> 

Canada's ''Red Tape Reduction Act'' of 2015 implemented a one-for-one rule that requires the removal of a regulation each time regulators impose a new administrative burden on business.<ref name=RTRA>{{cite web | title=Red Tape Reduction Act | author=Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Government of Canada | url= https://www.canada.ca/en/government/system/laws/developing-improving-...eral-regulations/modernizing-regulations/red-tape-reduction-act.html | date=22 December 2022 }}</ref>
Nevertheless, while ''Regulations'' decreased from 684 to 605 between 2014 and 2023, regulatory ''Requirements'' increased from 129,860 to 149,401.<ref name=Falcon/><ref name=FRMI>{{cite web | url=https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/corporate/reports...024-fiscal-year-federal-regulatory-management-initiatives.html#toc10 | title=Appendix C: administrative burden count; Annual Report for the 2023 to 2024 Fiscal Year: Federal Regulatory Management Initiatives | author=Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Government of Canada }}</ref>
A more successful reduction in red tape took place in the province of [[British Columbia]], Canada, following a 2001 election promise to reduce the regulatory burden by 33%.<ref name=Jones>{{cite report | publisher=Mercatus Center, George Mason University | title=Cutting Red Tape in Canada: A Regulatory Reform Model for the United States? | url=https://www.mercatus.org/research/research-papers/cutting-red-tape-canada-regulatory-reform-model-united-states | first=Laura | last=Jones | date=11 November 2015 }}</ref> 
At the time, regulation was heavy, with rules imposed on, for example, the size of televisions in restaurants, the number of par-four holes at golf courses, and the maximum seating capacity of ski hill lounges.<ref name=Jones/>
After three years, a 37% reduction was achieved.  A central element of the program was a strong commitment from the minister responsible and the provincial premier.<ref name=Falcon>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-07 |title=How to reduce the regulatory burden: Gordon Campbell, the premier at the time, made sure all ministers were held accountable, through a process that could be described as cabinet peer pressure  |url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2019/02/07/reduce-regulatory-burden/187526 |access-date=2021-10-25 |website=The Hill Times |language=en-CA | first1=Mathieu | last1=Bedard | first2=Kevin | last2=Falcon }}</ref><ref name=Jones/>

In the United States, cutting red tape was a central principle of a 1993 [[National Performance Review]] study requested by the [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|Clinton Administration]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gore |first=Al |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED384294 |title=From Red Tape to Results: Creating a Government That Works Better & Costs Less. Report of the National Performance Review |date=1993-09-10 |publisher=Education Resources Information Center |language=en}}</ref>
In November 2024, U.S. President-elect [[Donald Trump]] said [[Elon Musk]] and [[Vivek Ramaswamy]] would co-lead a new [[Department of Government Efficiency]] which would provide advice from outside government on methods to "slash excess regulations", among other objectives.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-elon-musk-vivek-ramaswamy-will-lead-department-government-efficiency-2024-11-13/  | title=Trump names Elon Musk to lead government efficiency drive | date=12 November 2024 | first=Daniel | last=Trotta | work=Reuters }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Trump gives Elon Musk mission to cut costs, slash red tape | work=The Globe and Mail | date=13 November 2024 | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/video-trump-gives-elon-musk-mission-to-cut-costs-slash-red-tape/ }}</ref>

==Perceptions of red tape==
Applying rules consistently can affect the extent to which individuals perceive that red tape exists in a government agency.<ref name=Kaufmann>{{Cite journal |last1=Kaufmann |first1=Wesley |last2=Ingrams |first2=Alex |last3=Jacobs |first3=Daan |date=2021 |title=Being Consistent Matters: Experimental Evidence on the Effect of Rule Consistency on Citizen Red Tape |journal=The American Review of Public Administration |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=28–39 |doi=10.1177/0275074020954250 |s2cid=225330022 |issn=0275-0740|doi-access=free }}</ref>
A survey-based experiment in the context of a jury duty summons found inconsistently-applied rules may be viewed as ineffective or unfair, fueling the perception of a high level of red tape.<ref name=Kaufmann/>

Perception of red tape (as opposed to useful regulation) may be relevant in the public service context, since employees may be more willing to comply with rules that they perceive as valuable.<ref name=Davis>{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=Randall S. |date=2013 |title=Union Commitment and Stakeholder Red Tape: How Union Values Shape Perceptions of Organizational Rules |journal=Review of Public Personnel Administration |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=365–383 |doi=10.1177/0734371X12453056|s2cid=154310022 }}</ref>

==Red tape and public sector employee job satisfaction==
Red tape can reduce employee flexibility and autonomy, thereby reducing job satisfaction.<ref name="burnout">Fuenzalida, J., Gutiérrez, L., Fernández-Vergara, A., & González, P. (2022). Red Tape and burnout risks of public service managers: Evidence from a survey experiment of school principals. University of Oxford.</ref>
A 2022 study that used survey data from 354 school principals in Chile found they experienced increased emotional exhaustion and risk of burnout when they were advised of a potential increase in red tape in the form of compliance tasks.<ref name="burnout"/> 
Research conducted into experiences of public-school leaders and teachers in Belgium found that when employees were faced with high levels of red tape from utilising digital tools, they were more likely to experience emotional exhaustion and, therefore, have higher turnover intention.<ref name="job demands">{{cite journal |author1=Muylaert, Jolien |author2=Decramer, Adelien |author3=Audenaert, M. |year=2022 |title=How Leader's Red Tape Interacts With Employees' Red Tape From the Lens of the Job Demands–Resources Model |journal=Review of Public Personnel Administration |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=430–455 |doi=10.1177/0734371X221087420|hdl=1854/LU-8750823 |url=https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8750823 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

A study of Dutch child welfare employees showed red tape reduced interactions with clients and job effectiveness, which decreased job satisfaction.<ref name=Steijn/>  Highly motivated  employees were found to be more sensitive to burdensome rules and procedures.<ref name=Steijn>{{cite journal | url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/padm.12352 | doi=10.1111/padm.12352 | title=Relational job characteristics and job satisfaction of public sector employees: When prosocial motivation and red tape collide | date=2019 | last1=Steijn | first1=Bram | last2=Van Der Voet | first2=Joris | journal=Public Administration | volume=97 | pages=64–80 }}</ref>

In 2020, the Canadian government released the Blueprint 2020 report, which brought together insights from engagements with over 2,000 public servants about their experiences with internal red tape.<ref name="Blueprint 2020">Blueprint 2020 Internal Red Tape Reduction Report: [https://internal-red-tape-reduction-report.github.io/ Cutting Internal Red Tape – Building a Service Culture]. September 2016.</ref> This report found that internal red tape is a significant concern for public servants.  Key issues included having unclear direction on rules, policies, and guidelines; and poor internal client service.<ref name="Blueprint 2020"/>

==Red tape, economic growth, and corruption==
===Red tape and economic growth===
While efficient government institutions can foster economic growth, cumbersome and unnecessary bureaucracy that delays permits and licenses slows technological advances.<ref name=Mauro/>
Red tape has been found to be an obstacle to investment and growth in a study using data for 68 countries.<ref name=Mauro>{{cite journal | title=Corruption and Growth | first=Paolo | last=Mauro | journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics | doi=10.2307/2946696 | url=https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/110/3/681/1859244 | date=August 1995 | volume=110 | issue=3 | pages=681–712 | jstor=2946696 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Policies that require government regulation and bureaucratic intervention can stifle economic progress, as has been documented by economist [[Anne Osborn Krueger|Anne Krueger]] in the context of an import-substitution development strategy.<ref name=Krueger/><ref name=Duvanova>{{cite journal | journal=World Development | title=Economic Regulations, Red Tape, and Bureaucratic Corruption in Post-Communist Economies | first=Dinissa | volume=59 | last=Duvanova | doi=10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.01.028 | date=2014 | pages=298–312 }}</ref>{{rp|298}}
This type of policy reduces the incentive to produce exports, thereby generating a foreign exchange "shortage" that puts pressure on governments to restrict imports to high priority areas such as medicines over consumer luxuries.
These restrictions require increased intervention, such as additional customs inspections and import approvals.  In turn, this leads to delays and greater complexity of the system, which raises costs for importers.
The higher costs create an incentive for black-market activity, thereby leading to political pressure to tighten still further the restrictive import regime.  
Over time, regulation and red tape promote more red tape and regulation in a vicious circle, as supporters of import substitution become more entrenched, while those who oppose it, such as exporters, cannot survive in the new environment.<ref name=Krueger>{{cite journal | title=Virtuous and Vicious Circles in Economic Development | first=Anne O. | last=Krueger | journal=American Economic Review | date=May 1993 | volume=83 | issue=2 | pages=351–355 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2117689 | doi= | jstor=2117689 }}</ref>
Rising costs of administration in the private sector, along with costs of delays and market inefficiency, weigh on economic performance and often result in an economic crisis.<ref name=Krueger/>

===Red tape and corruption===
The existence of regulations and authorizations provides a kind of monopoly power to the officials who must approve or inspect regulated activities.<ref name=Tanzi>{{cite report | url= https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/30/Corruption-Around-the-World-Causes-Consequences-Scope-and-Cures-2583 | first=Vito | last=Tanzi | title=Corruption Around the World: Causes, Consequences, Scope and Cures | date=1 May 1998 | publisher=International Monetary Fund | isbn= 9781451848397 }}</ref>
When regulations are not transparent, or an authorization can be obtained only from a specific office or individual (that is, there is no competition in the granting of these authorizations), bureaucrats have a great deal of power which may lead to corruption.<ref name=Tanzi/>{{rp|10-11}}<ref name=Duvanova/>{{rp|298-299}}<ref name=Mauro/>{{rp|685}}<ref>{{cite journal | title=Eight Questions about Corruption | first=Jakob | last=Svensson | journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives | date=Summer 2005 | volume=19 | issue=3 | pages=19–42 | doi=10.1257/089533005774357860 }}</ref>{{rp|32}}
Officials may even intentionally introduce new regulations and red tape in order to be able to extract more bribes by threatening to deny permits.<ref name=Mauro/>{{rp|685}}<ref name=Duvanova/>  Particularly in [[Developing country|developing]] and [[Transition economy|transition]] economies, surveys indicate that a large proportion of an enterprise manager's time (especially for small enterprises) requires dealing with bureaucracies, and this time can be reduced through the payment of bribes.<ref name=Tanzi/>{{rp|10-11}}

==See also==

{{div col}}
* [[Busy work]]
* [[Byzantinism]]
* [[Crony capitalism]]
* [[Cronyism]]
* [[Instruction creep]]
* [[Sludge theory]]
* [[Micromanagement]]
* [[Paperwork Reduction Act]]
* [[Paternalism]]
* [[Prig]]
* [[Purple crocodile]]
* [[Regulatory impact analysis]]
* [[Humphrey Appleby|Sir Humphrey Appleby]]
* [[Jobsworth]]{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* George et al. (2020) Red Tape, Organizational Performance and Employee Outcomes: Meta-Analysis, Meta-Regression and Research Agenda. ''[[Public Administration Review]]''.
* [[Barry Bozeman]] (2000) ''Bureaucracy and Red Tape'' [[Prentice Hall|Prentice-Hall Publishing]].
* {{cite book |author1=[[Pamela Herd]] |author2=[[Donald Moynihan]] |title=Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means |year=2019 |isbn=978-0871544445 |publisher=Russell Sage Foundation}}
* {{cite book |author=Herbert Kaufman |title=Red Tape: Its Origins, Uses, and Abuses |location=Washington, DC |publisher=[[Brookings Institution]] |date=1977}}
* [[OECD]] (2006) "Cutting red tape; national strategies for administrative simplification". OECD Editions, Paris.

[[Category:Slang]]
[[Category:Administrative theory]]
[[Category:Public choice theory]]
[[Category:Metaphors referring to objects]]
[[Category:Bureaucratic organization]]
[[Category:Waste of resources]]