Empirical Research on Business Compliance in Regulatory Capitalism: How Can Researchers Measure Compliance

Abstract

The first aim of the paper is to survey empirical literature on regulatory compliance in order to set out the strengths and weaknesses of the different ways in which empirical researchers have measured and studied compliance. We also draw on criminological research on measuring illegal activity to achieve this aim. This is intended to be a useful primer and resource for researchers in itself. The second - and more fundamental - aim of the paper is to inquire into what is it is that empirical regulation researchers study when we study business compliance with the law - and how we should conceptualise compliance for the purposes of empirical research. We argue that the way empirical researchers have studied compliance, and what they have found, shows that business compliance needs to be conceptualised to cover a range of variables and processes within the firm and in the way the firm relates to its external environment and internal constituents.