The California effect is the shift of regulation—regulation—such as antitrust, environmental, data privacy, and artificial intelligence regulations—toward political jurisdictions with stricter regulatory standards.[1][2]
Vogel, David (1995) Trading up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, p. 259.ch. 8.
Bradford, Anu (2021) The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World, New York: Oxford University Press.
Vogel, David (1995) Trading up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, p. 259.
"The "California effect" is the shift of consumer, environmentalregulation—such as antitrust, environmental, data privacy, and other regulations in the direction ofartificial intelligence regulations—toward political jurisdictions with stricter regulatory standards.[1] The name is derived from the spread of some advanced environmental regulatory standards that were originally adopted by the U.S. state of California and eventually adopted in other states."[1][2]
A related conceptSometimes the expression "California effect" is used to describe the shift of regulation toward regulation introduced in California, which typically involves stricter regulatory standards. The expression "Brussels effect, "the processeffect" is used in a similar sense, to describe the shift of unilateral regulatory globalisation causedregulation toward regulation introduced by the European Union.[3]
A distinction is sometimes made between de jure and de facto (but not necessarily de jure) externalising its laws outside its borders through market mechanisms. Through versions of the Brussels effect, regulated entities, especially corporations, end up complying witheffect. EU laws evenregulation may cause countries outside the EU for a varietyto adopt similar standards, and these standards may in turn influence firms operating in these non-EU jurisdictions. This is an example of reasons."de jure Brussels effect, because the firms are legally required to comply with these new standards. In other cases, however, the firms may voluntarily decide to comply with EU law even in the absence of similar regulation outside the European Union, typically because doing so simplifies their business processes. An example is firms that modify their websites to comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) not just in the EU but globally, even when not legally required to do so.[2]4]
Wikipedia (2018)Vogel, David (1995) California effectTrading up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy, Wikipedia, April 8 (updated 9 February 2022).Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, p. 259.
Wikipedia (2018)Princen, Sebastiaan (1999) BrusselsThe California effect in the EC’s external relations: a comparison of the leghold trap and beef-hormone issues between the EC and the U.S. and Canada, WikipediaECSA Sixth Biennial International, May 17 (updated 9p. 1.
Bradford, Anu (2021) The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World, New York: Oxford University Press.
Engler, Alex (2022) The EU AI Act will have global impact, but a limited Brussels effect, Brookings, June 2022).8.
"The "California effect" is the shift of consumer, environmental and other regulations in the direction of political jurisdictions with stricter regulatory standards.[1] The name is derived from the spread of some advanced environmental regulatory standards that were originally adopted by the U.S. state of California and eventually adopted in other states."[1]
"The "California effect" is the shift of consumer, environmental and other regulations in the direction of political jurisdictions with stricter regulatory standards.[1] The name is derived from the spread of some advanced environmental regulatory standards that were originally adopted by the U.S. state of California and eventually adopted in other states."[1]
"The "California effect" is the shift of consumer, environmental and other regulations in the direction of political jurisdictions with stricter regulatory standards.[1] The name is derived from the spread of some advanced environmental regulatory standards that were originally adopted by the U.S. state of California and eventually adopted in other states." (Wikipedia[1])
A related concept is the Brussels effect, "the process of unilateral regulatory globalisation caused by the European Union de facto (but not necessarily de jure) externalising its laws outside its borders through market mechanisms. Through the Brussels effect, regulated entities, especially corporations, end up complying with EU laws even outside the EU for a variety of reasons." (Wikipedia[2])
Wikipedia (2018) California effect, Wikipedia, April 8 (updated 9 February 2022).
Wikipedia (2018) Brussels effect, Wikipedia, May 17 (updated 9 June 2022).
One thing I forgot to flag earlier is that, despite the California effect being (I think) a broader category that includes the Brussels effect, the Brussels effect seems the more commonly discussed and recognized term in EA and AI governance circles. So it's still plausible that Brussels effect is a better name and the entry should just mention that this is a subtype of the California effect and that posts about the latter are also in-scope.
(But I'm ~agnostic and it probably doesn't matter much which option we go for.)