Patterns of Coping With Inconsistent Demands in Public Service Delivery
Published online on May 17, 2012
Abstract
Inconsistent regulatory objectives may cause persistent noncompliant behavior among regulated actors. Yet, the authors know little about when, where, and how inconsistencies get solved by regulated actors. The authors tracked the norms and interventions of multiple regulatory oversight bodies trickling down the hierarchy of three utility companies. The authors interviewed and observed managers, planners, operators, and staff studying their responses to regulatory inconsistencies from the perspective of value conflict. The authors identify several patterns of coping behavior across the three companies. In conclusion, the authors argue to account for coping behavior in the regulatory mind-set and they recast how coordination may further improve the effectiveness of fragmented regulatory regimes.