While confidence in the business sector is crucial for well-functioning markets, there is surprisingly little empirical work on its sources. Available research recognizes generalized social trust and macroeconomic performance (especially unemployment and economic growth) as major forces explaining confidence in institutions and organizations in general. By assuming that confidence in companies hinges on rules, formal procedures, and practices that shape how organizations function, economic regulation is frequently advocated to foster confidence in companies, not least as it is supposed to reduce the scope for opportunistic behavior. Based on individual-level data from World Values Survey/European Values studies and economic regulation data from the Economic Freedom of the World project we investigate statistical associations of confidence in major companies with generalized social trust and macroeconomic performance as well as the intensity and quality of business regulation. From an economic policy perspective our findings suggest that confidence in the business sector can be facilitated by an implicit guarantee from governments of fair and impartial treatment.

Changes in the regulatory state, the privatization of network industries in Europe and in air transport have led to a redefinition of how airports are regulated. The French model of state ownership and regulation of airports became progressively out of step with a broader European market-oriented frame of reference. A new French sectoral frame of reference was developed and became public policy in 2005. A cognitive analysis identifies the key factors and actors responsible for this shift. This article explores the nature of the changes made to adapt the French model to a European framework and examines the influence of foreign models of regulation on the design of the French model. Finally, it suggests that features of the European frame of reference for regulatory structures have been adapted within France.

This article analyses the impact of market forces and regulation in the Spanish telephone sector. It aims to explore the combined effects of the intersection between regulation of the monopoly, economic policy and entrepreneurial strategies, and hypothesizes that the regulation had a decisive influence on the development of the networks and services. Chronologically, the study covers the two decades of the transition from autarky to the Stabilization and Development Plans. In its double supply-demand approach, the article quantifies investment as an expression of supply and reviews the ground rules within which these two market forces developed. Finally, it examines the situation of shortages that the intervention created, and explains the intervention in prices from the perspective of the trade-off between its use as an element of stabilization and the bargaining power of the sector. The conclusions reflect the impact of the regulation and highlight its more complex aspects.