BRITISH PROFESSIONS TODAY: THE STATE OF ... - Property Week

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2Changing regulatory structures
Changing regulatory structures >> When a system of multiple controls works properly, no one controls an agency, but it is ‘under control’. Terry Moe, American Professor of Political Science, 1987 The balance between regulation and representation is crucial to professional identity. Organisational structure is a key prerequisite to any definition of ‘profession’: “An obvious, politically-based definition, albeit of little normative value, would be to accept as professions whatever occupations have been successful in achieving self-regulating status” (Trebilcock 1976: 9). The traditional view holds that were it not for the self-regulatory role of professional bodies, which forces them to set high standards and a degree of disinterestedness, a profession would be no different than a trade union. Yet, we find evidence suggesting that regulatory structures are changing, and that selfregulation is now often measured in degrees. As society becomes more fragmented, a “decentred” understanding of regulation, considering the wide range of different and often blurred regulatory configurations diffused throughout society, may become necessary. 2.1 Why regulate? Correction of so-called ‘market failures’ emerges as the most common answer to the question, “Why regulate?” In economic terms market failures include: ‘information asymmetry,’ ‘credence goods,’ and ‘externalities’: > Information asymmetry refers to the disparity between the information held by the service provider versus the information held by the consumer. Information asymmetry could lead to market failure where the former has strong incentives to cut quality with a corresponding reduction in price. > Credence goods refers to the intangible nature of professional services and the difficulty of ascertaining quality before purchase. Consumers may not be able to gauge the quality of the service that they have bought, both due to information asymmetry and the often ambiguous relationship between the quality of the service provided and the outcome. The long time it takes for some advice or services to register or bear fruit can also be perplexing. > Externalities refers to the impacts (beneficial or adverse) on third parties which arise from decisions made by professionals and their clients (<strong>OF</strong>T 2001). Regulation aims to remove these market failures at a reasonable cost in order to improve the efficiency of markets where trust, transparency and information disclosure are extremely important. British Professions Today: The State of the Sector © Spada Limited 2009 9
Page 1 and 2: BRITISH PROFESSIONS TODAY: THE STAT
Page 3 and 4: Foreword >> This research by Spada
Page 5 and 6: > > > > > The professions represent
Page 7 and 8: 1Introduction >>
Page 9 and 10: 1.1 What is a profession? There is
Page 11 and 12: The unique role of trust in profess
Page 13: Because the professions can only ex
Page 17 and 18: 2.2 Historical development The curr
Page 19 and 20: 2.3 Regulated self-regulation Regul
Page 21 and 22: The Clementi review concluded that
Page 23 and 24: 3The professional economy >>
Page 25 and 26: Our data has been sourced from the
Page 27 and 28: 3.3 Productivity Industry productiv
Page 29 and 30: 3.5 Employment A considerable porti
Page 31 and 32: Social and political contributions
Page 33 and 34: Civil society Given the decline in
Page 35 and 36: The period of analysis is, for most
Page 37 and 38: The Law Society, too, felt that the
Page 39 and 40: Conclusion >> The best augury of a
Page 41 and 42: 5.2 Vision for the future Professio
Page 43 and 44: Harris, Charles Phillip. 1999. Lobb
Page 45 and 46: 2. Personal interviews Name Title A
Page 47 and 48: All photography by Warwick Sweeney

BRITISH PROFESSIONS TODAY: THE STATE OF ... - Property Week

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