Administrative adjudication can serve as a quasi-judicial forum for resolving disputes resulting from government regulations. New York City recently required restaurants to post letter grades reflecting their compliance with food safety regulations and incorporated an easily accessible administrative adjudication system into its policy design. This study examines the implementation of this feature of the policy by using a regression discontinuity framework to explore the effects of the grading policy on adjudication processes and regulatory outcomes. Quantitative data included 222,527 food safety inspection records (2007–2014); qualitative data included interviews, observations, and document review. Restaurants were more likely to have violations reduced and grades improved at adjudication when grades were at stake. Moreover, adjudication outcomes were highly sensitive to score differences near grade cut-points. Professional representatives helped restaurants to negotiate the interpretation of rules in the quasi-judicial proceedings, softening rigidity of regulations. Representatives’ expertise was consistent with being “repeat players,” which may distort the use of such forums to ensure justice and fairness. This study illuminates the ramifications of including alternative dispute resolution systems in the implementation of regulatory policies.

行政裁决可以作为解决由政府法规引起的纠纷的准司法论坛。纽约市最近要求饭店发布字母等级，以反映其符合食品安全法规的要求，并将易于使用的行政裁决系统纳入其政策设计。本研究通过使用回归不连续性框架来探讨该政策功能的实施情况，以探索分级政策对裁决程序和监管结果的影响。定量数据包括222,527个食品安全检查记录（2007-2014年）；定性数据包括访谈，观察和文档审查。当等级受到威胁时，餐厅更有可能减少违规情况，并在裁决时提高等级。而且，裁决结果对接近年级分界点的评分差异高度敏感。专业代表帮助餐馆就准司法程序中的规则解释进行谈判，从而减轻了规则的僵化性。代表们的专业知识与成为“重复参与者”相一致，这可能会歪曲此类论坛的使用，以确保公正和公平。这项研究阐明了将替代性纠纷解决系统纳入法规政策实施的后果。”，这可能会扭曲此类论坛的使用，以确保公正和公平。这项研究阐明了将替代性纠纷解决系统纳入法规政策实施的后果。”，这可能会扭曲此类论坛的使用，以确保公正和公平。这项研究阐明了将替代性纠纷解决系统纳入法规政策实施的后果。