Small business responses to Covid-related regulatory communication.

Simon Down, Paul Richter

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report on the findings of a research project that investigated UK small businesses’ experiences of, and responses to, regulations implemented during the Covid pandemic. Our analysis draws on recent theoretical development on ‘regulatory discovery practices’ (Kitching, 2016) and the ‘identification-interpretation’ dynamic (Mallett et al., 2019) to show how businesses’ responses to communications are contingent on relational dynamics of the particular networks and contexts in which the small business is embedded (Edwards et al., 2006). Our analysis and findings critique the assumption that there is a fairly direct connection between government announcements of regulatory information and the ability of businesses to understand and comply. We find significant variation in the routes to understanding and response adopted by businesses. Our approach to understanding the responses of smaller businesses to regulatory communication extends existing theory and also provides greater nuance in how businesses come to understand whether and how it “should” and does behave in terms of complying with regulations. Better knowledge about this nuanced process improves our ability to understand the effectiveness of the communication of regulatory information to smaller businesses.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-21
Number of pages21
JournalInternational Small Business Journal
Publication statusIn preparation - 2024-Aug-21

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