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Public Regulation (public + regulation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	42%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	42%

Selected Abstracts

COMPETITION AMONG STAKEHOLDER GROUPS FOR POLITICAL INFLUENCE OVER BUSINESS REGULATION: THE CASE OF THE UK PENSIONS INDUSTRY

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2003
Paul Klumpes
This paper applies a stakeholder perspective to estimate various types of costs (taxes) and benefits (subsidies) affecting stakeholder groups whose constituents are most affected by recent, major reforms to the public regulation of the UK pensions industry. Both direct and indirect subsidies and taxes arising from regulation distinguishes groups representing both sophisticated and vulnerable investors. The analysis suggests that financial intermediaries, and industry regulators, are all effectively subsidised by other stakeholder groups. [source]

Contested hybridization of regulation: Failure of the Dutch regulatory system to protect minors from harmful media

REGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2010
Bärbel R. Dorbeck-Jung
Abstract The hybridization of regulatory modes and instruments is currently a popular way to improve public regulation. However, it is still unclear whether combinations of hard law and soft law, co-regulation, and legally enforced self-regulation really make regulation more effective. Using the analytical framework of the "really responsive regulation" approach, in this article we explore effectiveness problems in a hybrid regulatory system that tries to protect minors from harmful media. In our analysis of low compliance rates in the context of system failures, we argue that effectiveness problems seem to arise from poorly informed staff members, lack of internal and external controls, low rule enforcement, insufficient overlap between public and private interests, poor social responsibility in the Dutch media sector, deficiencies in the institutional framework, an inconsistent regulatory strategy, and inadequate responses from responsible regulators. Furthermore, based on our case study we argue that institutional dynamics of standard-setting activities can be detrimental to regulatory goal achievement if there is no compensation at the systemic level. Ongoing "regulatory care" through control, corrective responses, and rule enforcement seems to be crucial for a hybrid regulatory system to perform well. [source]

Insurers, Claims and the Boundaries of Good Faith

THE MODERN LAW REVIEW, Issue 1 2005
John Lowry
This article examines the refusal of the English courts to award damages for consequential losses following unreasonable delay on the part of insurers in settling a claim. This has the potential to give rise to dire consequences for insureds. These difficulties have been addressed in North American jurisdictions where the concept of good faith has been developed and applied as a means of both compensating insureds and regulating the conduct of insurers. However, a hallmark of English law is that it fails to draw a bright line between the law of contract and the law of contracts. As a result, the policy issues that should inform insurance contracts are excluded by virtue of the notion, imported from the law of contract, that the contractual relationship is a matter of private law and is not, therefore, a means for public regulation of insurers. [source]

Libéralisation des Services publics de réseau et jeux croisés de la régulation: le cas de l'électricité

ANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 4 2001
Frédéric Varone
This article analyses the liberalization of public services with a special focus on the (re)regulation process that is induced. Firstly, a conceptual framework is developed in order to identify the constitutive elements of the public regulation related to market competition, public service obligations, operators and public property, as well as the tension between them. Secondly, a comparative study describes the liberalization and the regulatory design of the electricity sector in England, France, Germany, Norway and Switzerland. As a conclusion, we note the necessity to further analyse the introduction of market mechanisms into formerly monopolistic network industries and its effects. [source]

Product Safety Provision and Consumers' Information

AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 4 2000
Stephan Marette
Economic mechanisms related to the provision of product safety are explored, with particular attention paid to the structure of consumers' information. The case of perfect information, of experience goods (for which consumers detect product safety after consumption) and of credence goods (where consumers cannot link a disease to a particular product consumed in the past) are explored. Imperfect competition is assumed in the supply sector. In the case of both perfect information and experience goods, market equilibrium is characterised by a less-than-socially optimal provision of safety, when the safety effort is costly. With credence goods, imperfect information leads to the absence of safety effort and to a market closure. Different types of public regulation aiming at increasing consumer protection and circumventing market failures are explored. Particular attention is paid to minimum safety standards, labels and liability enforcement. The relative efficiency of these instruments depends on the information structure. In the cases of perfect information and experience goods, a minimum safety standard can be an efficient instrument. Regulation is necessary but not sufficient to avoid market failure in the case of credence goods. [source]

The Red Queen and the environment: reconciling public regulation and business strategy

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2007
Villy Søgaard
Abstract Until the late 1980s, environmental regulation in Denmark was often carried out in an intensely politicized and confrontational climate marked by strong tensions between authorities and polluting firms. In recent years, however, the general spirit of regulation seems to have improved significantly. During this same period, ,generic' measures such as general discharge limits have been supplemented with more specific demands, tailored for individual companies. The present paper presents a case study based on the environmental regulation of TripleNine, a West Jutland fishmeal factory. In response to major changes in its market and regulatory environment, the firm has revised its general strategy and taken a more pro-active stance on environmental issues, pursuing a policy of active co-operation with local environmental authorities. Informed by this and other case studies, a theoretical model is developed to account for the incorporation of ecological concerns into firms' general business strategy. Against the background of this model, the paper addresses the long-term possibilities of reconciling business strategy and public regulation in the future. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]