Project Overview

Developments in the economic landscape, together with technological advances, globalisation and a range of other societal changes all shape contemporary approaches to the management of risk in an ever-shrinking world. One outcome is a shift from state regulation to various forms of self- and co-regulation, with new regulatory bodies being established, and increasing expectations on the public to take personal responsibility insuring themselves against risks.

In the domains of financial services regulation and media and communications regulation, new regulatory bodies have recently been formed: the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Each faces complex challenges in regulating risks; each is evolving a “culture of regulation” that transcends classic forms of regulation, seeking to represent the interests of the public, undertake consumer education, engage with stakeholders and influence policy formation.

For each of these two domains, this project asks how consumers are now represented within the new culture of regulation and, on the other hand, how consumers themselves understand their changing role within communications and financial service regulation, this in turn potentially influencing their response to communications and finance-related risks.

The project was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of the Social Contexts and Responses to Risk (SCARR) Network. The SCARR Network explores various forms of risks within real-life settings, allowing researchers to engage with the public and stakeholders, thereby encouraging the production of novel findings that would be of relevance to policy-makers.

The Regulators, the Public and the Media

A final dissemination event was held at the London School of Economics on Tuesday 16 September 2008. The event presented the findings of the four year ESRC-funded 'The Public Understanding of Regimes of Risk and Regulation' project. The powerpoint slides are available here, and the report here.

Final Report

This project is now concluded. The final report can be found here