Balancing reputational strategies in the European administrative space: how private actors and agencies talk about regulation
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The reputational perspective on agencies has sparked fruitful research. We argue that this perspective can also be applied to private actors in regulatory governance. As they are incorporated into governance because of their expertise, we hypothesise that a technical reputation dominates private actors´ regulatory talk. Furthermore, we test whether agencies have a more multi-dimensional reputational strategy than private actors. We analyse documents of private actors, national regulatory agencies (NRAs) and a European agency (ACER) in energy market regulation. We code rule drafts and agency decisions, and show that private actors not only use technical, but also legal and performative arguments. However, NRAs and ACER have a more balanced reputational strategy. They balance the reputational mix of the private actors when approving rule drafts, adding to the reputational dimensions that private actors neglect. Thus, our article shows how private actors and agencies differ in their regulatory talk within one rulemaking process.
Author: Simon Fink
Institution: University of Göttingen
Language: English
Subfield: Strategy and Management
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Norges Forskningsråd
Award: G2690318829
OpenAlex ID: W4393929938