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What do governments, international organizations and stakeholders mean when they say that proposals for new regulation should be systematically appraised? And do regulators really use the results of produced by evidence-based policy instruments? In this article, we consider two dimensions of policy appraisal: the breadth and scope of the empirical analysis, and its utilization. We use these two dimensions to produce an explanatory typology with four types. The types enable us to review the literature systematically, exposing gaps as well as documenting the results. In the final part of the article builds expectations that link quality of analysis and utilization, thus showing how future research may become less descriptive and more inclined to testing.