A Classroom Game on Sequential Enforcement

To achieve compliance with a regulation, the manner of enforcement may matter as much as the level of enforcement. Classroom games can encourage students to think creatively about alternative tactics. This article examines a situation with “safety in numbers” for potential violators, when monitoring is easy but only a few violators can be penalized. A simple interactive exercise can be used to compare random enforcement, in which individuals are selected at random for inspection, with sequential enforcement, in which individuals are checked in a known order. Sequential enforcement completely dominates random enforcement in reducing both the number of violators and the number receiving penalties. This memorable game engages students to consider various enforcement strategies.