Regulation - the movie:a semiotic study of the periodic review of UK regulated industry

This paper explores the regulatory process of UK privatised utilities as manifest in the periodic review of prices. Two separate review processes are identified, operating concurrently - a covert dialogue between the regulator and the regulated and an overt dialogue taking place in the public arena. Using a semiotic analysis of the review the authors argue that the overt event is the real review. Furthermore they argue that the unfolding of each review is so similar that it can be likened to a film script which is constantly re-enacted. The purpose of the review as a legitimating vehicle for the regulator and regulated, who exist in a symbiotic relationship, is explored in terms of the semiotics involved and the myth creation role of legitimation in order to explain the significance of the regulatory process.

Industry evolution and cross-sectoral skill transfers:a comparative analysis of the video game industry in Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom

In this paper we explore the interrelationship between technological progress and the formation of industry-specific skills by analysing the evolution of the video-game industry in three countries: Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. We argue that the cross-sectoral transfer of skills occurs differently depending on national contexts, such as the social legitimacy and strength of preexisting industries, the socioeconomic status of entrepreneurs or pioneer firms in an emerging industry, and the sociocultural cohesiveness between the preexisting and emerging industries. Each country draws on a different set of creative resources, which results in a unique trajectory. Whereas Japan's video-game industry emerged out of corporate sponsorships in arcades, toys, and consumer electronics industries and drew skills from the comic book and animated-film sectors, the video-game industry in the United States evolved from arcades and personal computers. In the United Kingdom the video-game industry developed bottom-up, through a process of skills formation in the youth culture of 'bedroom coders' that nurtured self-taught programmers in their teens throughout the country.