Following World War II, ambitious economic and social policies were legitimized by the widespread belief that governments would be able to control the economy and businesses by manipulating key macroeconomic variables and, at the same time, ensure social justice and equality in the distribution of wealth. As a consequence, the complexity and number of policies aimed to meet this challenge and regulate the market increased considerably. This was accompanied by a rapid increase in the number and scope of legislative policies. Both the quality and the quantity of such policies began to have their effects on the functioning of the economy. In particular, the regulation of business became a major objective and feature for policymakers.

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doi.org/10.1002/9781405164214.ch7, hdl.handle.net/1765/106118
Erasmus University Rotterdam

van der Horst, R. (Robert), Nijsen, A. (Andre), & Gulhan, S. (2008). Regulatory Policies and Their Impact on SMEs in Europe: The Case of Administrative Burdens. In The Blackwell Handbook of Entrepreneurship (pp. 128–149). doi:10.1002/9781405164214.ch7