The relationship between the state, the market and the citizen is as old as the classics, but now we face a fundamental shift, says Sandra Dawson, KPMG professor of management studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, in a Tomorrow's Regulators podcast.
In the podcast, Dawson argues that regulators will need to change and be more in touch with others in the drive to provide better value for money.
In a further article published in the Journal for Public Management, Dawson sets out the case for future regulation in the provision of public goods, calling for regulators to be more collaborative and innovative in the drive for greater efficiency and value for money.
Efficiency is not new, Dawson says, but "what we have seen in the last 30 years is a fundamental change in how that relationship can be developed. It began with Margaret Thatcher when public services were marketed in the name of efficiency and effectiveness.
"Now that we are facing an enormous public deficit and increasing public expectations about the role of public services and who is best to provide them, there is a lot of radical rethinking going on."
She adds: "I think the regulators role needs to be thought about in terms of 'is it providing value for money', and is it really providing the service to the citizen and the public that the regulator in the role of representing the state can secure?"
Dawson also says measurement tools such as the "Regulatory Impact Assessment" would increase in importance, as opposed to more behavioural-based approaches.
