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- Competition and public service broadcasting: stimulating creativity or servicing capital?Publication . Turner, Simon; Lourenço, Ana
- Competition and Public Service broadcasting: stimulating creativity or servicing capital?Publication . Turner, Simon; Lourenço, AnaIn UK public service broadcasting, recent regulatory change has increased the role of the private sector in television production, culminating in the BBC’s recent introduction of ‘creative competition’ between in-house and independent television producers. Using the concept of ‘cognitive distance’, this paper focuses on the increasing role of the independent sector as a source of creativity and innovation in the delivery of programming for the BBC. The paper shows that the intended benefits of introducing new competencies into public service broadcasting have been thwarted by, on the one hand, a high level of cognitive proximity between in-house and external producers and, on the other, a conflict in values between the BBC and the independent sector, with the latter responding to a commercial imperative that encourages creativity in profitable genres, leaving gaps in other areas of provision. While recent regulatory reform appears to have had a limited impact on the diversity of programming, it does suggest a closer alignment of programme content with the imperatives of capital. Implications for the literature on communities of practice are noted.
- A social cost perspective in the wake of the Portuguese strategy for the fight against drugsPublication . Goncalves, Ricardo; Lourenço, Ana; Silva, Sofia Nogueira daThe Portuguese National Strategy for the Fight Against Drugs (NSFAD), approved in 1999, was explicitly grounded on the values of humanism and pragmatism and paved the way for the decriminalization of illicit drug use in Portugal in 2000. This paper presents an analysis of the social costs of illicit drug use in the wake of the strategy's approval. Taking into consideration health and non-health related costs, we find that that the social cost of drugs decreased by 12% in the five years following the NSFAD's approval and by a rather significant 18% in the eleven-year period following its approval. Whilst the reduction of legal system costs (possibly associated with the decriminalization of drug consumption) is clearly one of the main explanatory factors, it is not the only one. In particular, the rather significant reduction of health-related costs has also played an important role.
- Hybrids and professional communities: comparing UK reforms in healthcare, broadcasting and postal servicesPublication . Turner, Simon; Lourenço, Ana; Allen, PaulineMany countries use state-owned, for-profit, and third sector organizations to provide public services, generating ‘hybrid’ organizational forms. This article examines how the hybridization of organizations in the public sector is influenced by interaction between regulatory change and professional communities. It presents qualitative data on three areas of the UK public sector that have undergone marketization: healthcare, broadcasting, and postal services. Implementation of market-based reform in public sector organizations is shaped by sector-specific differences in professional communities, as these groups interact with reform processes. Sectoral differences in communities include their power to influence reform, their persistence despite reform, and their alignment with the direction of change or innovation. Equally, the dynamics of professional communities can be affected by reform. Policymakers need to take account of the ways that implementation of hybrid forms interacts with professional communities, including risk of disrupting existing relationships based on communities that contribute to learning.
- Programas eleitorais para as legislativas 2015: o setor da comunicação socialPublication . Lourenço, Ana
- Autopoetic social systems theory: the co-evolution of law and the economyPublication . Lourenço, AnaThis paper explores the relationship between regulation and contracts from the point of view of autopoietic social systems theory. Building on the notions of contract as a structure of governance, and of regulation as a system of rules intended to govern the behaviour of its subjects that involves standard setting, monitoring and enforcement, the paper discusses the contributions of Teubner (1993), Collins (1999) and Deakin (2002) for understanding the relationship between the legal and the economic subsystems in society. The paper argues that regulation and contracts coevolve:the influence of regulation upon contracts is mediated by the system of shared meanings that the contract develops and, reciprocally, the influence of contracts on regulation depends on each regulatory element’s own network of communications. The paper concludes that reflexive regulatory strategies, by facilitating the emergence of shared meanings, may be more successful in governing the behaviour of economic actors. However, given the disturbances involved in the process of co-evolution, this is not straightforward.
- Competition and public service broadcasting: stimulating creativity or servicing capital?Publication . Turner, Simon; Lourenço, AnaIn UK public service broadcasting, recent regulatory change has increased the role of the private sector in television production, culminating in the BBC‟s introduction of „creative competition‟ between in-house and independent television producers. Using the concept of „cognitive variety‟, this paper focuses on the increasing role of the independent sector as a source of creativity and innovation in the delivery of programming for the BBC. The paper shows that the intended benefit of introducing new competencies has been thwarted by, on the one hand, a high level of cognitive proximity between in-house and external producers and, on the other, a conflict in values between the BBC and the independent sector, with many of the larger producers responding to a commercial imperative that encourages creativity in profitable genres, but leaves gaps in other areas of provision. Implications for the literature on communities of practice are noted. Key words: Cognitive Variety; Communities of Practice; Public Service Broadcasting; BBC TelevisionIn UK public service broadcasting, recent regulatory change has increased the role of the private sector in television production, culminating in the BBC‟s introduction of „creative competition‟ between in-house and independent television producers. Using the concept of „cognitive variety‟, this paper focuses on the increasing role of the independent sector as a source of creativity and innovation in the delivery of programming for the BBC. The paper shows that the intended benefit of introducing new competencies has been thwarted by, on the one hand, a high level of cognitive proximity between in-house and external producers and, on the other, a conflict in values between the BBC and the independent sector, with many of the larger producers responding to a commercial imperative that encourages creativity in profitable genres, but leaves gaps in other areas of provision. Implications for the literature on communities of practice are noted.
- The role of regulation in constituting markets: a co-evolutionary perspective on the UK television production sectorPublication . Lourenço, Ana; Turner, SimonThis article builds on a legal institutionalist approach to assess market-based regulatory change in British television production over the last three decades. It explores how formal rules governing television production constitute market relations, and whether these rules are likely to be evaded by television producers and commissioners in a context where contracting depends heavily on social norms of cooperation, reciprocity and flexibility. Using qualitative data, this article suggests that changes in law and terms of trade intended to promote a market in television production have not had a straightforward or linear effect: compulsory independent production quotas and licensing models of terms of trade have redrawn organizational boundaries in unexpected ways, disturbed the public service remit and engendered new financial flows. Formal rules were nonetheless central to the trajectory of the television production industry, as they were a constitutive element of changes in the power structure of the sector towards producers’ interests.
- No “third way” for economic organization? Networks and quasi-markets in broadcastingPublication . Deakin, Simon; Lourenço, Ana; Pratten, StephenWe present two linked, longitudinal case studies of the use of quasi-markets in United Kingdom broadcasting over the past decade: one looks at the regulated outsourcing of programme making to independent producers, the other at the development of an internal market system within the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). New network forms are shown to have arisen from the interaction of legal regulation, contracts, and property rights. However, these organisational forms are also seen to be associated with increased transaction costs and with signs of deterioration in programme quality and innovation. We suggest that for such networks to be a viable "third way" between markets and hierarchy, closer attention needs to be given to the issue of institutional design.