Business culture, entrepreneurship and innovation: Illusions and disillusions of deregulation and regulation

摘要

Since the introduction of deregulation in the public transport market in the United Kingdom in 1986, a majority of stakeholders and decisions-makers in continental Europe have developed fierce criticism about this model. Yet the introduction of the opening up of the market and the privatization shook the sector, as demonstrated by the 10 years it took the European Institutions to agree finally on a rather neutral regulation that enables both to close/protect or to open the market1 under certain conditions. Deregulation is seen as the anti-model and opinions are usually very clear-cut since these notions often reflect political if not ideological convictions. Paradoxically, at the same time others deplore the fact that regulation undermines the spirit of entrepreneurship and the capacity for innovation of undertakings, depriving public transport services of the customer-orientation, pro-activeness and creativity to respond to market expectations and needs.