More than any other government function, regulation is simply outdated. OECD countries have enormous inventories of rules that have survived without serious examination for decades or even centuries. Yet routine updating of regulations is virtually non-existent, and the task has just begun. Finland replaced in 1995 its Land Law of 1734. The United States did not overhaul its 1970 clean air law until 1990, though it is difficult to imagine a field in which understanding changed more in those 20 years than environmental protection.
Obsolescence goes deeper than individual rules.
Regulatory regimes for labour markets were largely created for economies dominated by manufacturing in large factories, and are ill suited to service oriented economies characterised by labour mobility and self employment. Incentives are perverse. Regulatory quality is a public good that has few protectors, and many detractors. It is a public good because, while everyone benefits from good regulation, few have adequate incentives to invest in keeping the overall regulatory system healthy. On the contrary, many of the strongest pressures on regulators weigh directly against these benefits.