Not Merely a Game of Cat and Mouse: Regulatory Categorization of Contemporary Entrepreneurial Firms

Abstract

Regulatory categorization is a process which sets legal limitations to the production and sales of products or provisions of service within the jurisdiction of a regulator. Extant literature on the process is very limited and the few studies that have explored the process do not engage with contemporary entrepreneurial firms. Studies on the regulation of contemporary entrepreneurial firms suggest multiple actors influence their regulation and the dynamics between the local and central state regulatory authorities plays a significant role in how these firms navigate the process. Adopting an institutional work theoretical perspective in line with extant work, we study in detail the case of regulatory categorization of ride hailing app-based firms at the subnational level in the state of Karnataka in India. The preliminary analysis suggests that the process is a multi-actor contested negotiation unlike extant work which suggests it to be a contest between firms and regulator. We identify two sets of actors - ‘stakeholders’ and ‘third-party actors’ who engage in category work, and maintenance work on their own. This is a departure from extant work which emphasizes the agency of the firms in activating other actors to influence the regulator.