Balancing reputational strategies in the European administrative space: how private actors and agencies talk about regulation
研究了私人行为者和监管机构在能源市场监管中如何通过不同声誉策略谈论监管，发现私人行为者侧重技术、法律和绩效论证，而机构则更平衡地补充被忽视的维度。
The reputational perspective on agencies has sparked fruitful research. We argue that this perspective can also be applied to private actors in regulatory governance. As they are incorporated into governance because of their expertise, we hypothesise that a technical reputation dominates private actors´ regulatory talk. Furthermore, we test whether agencies have a more multi-dimensional reputational strategy than private actors. We analyse documents of private actors, national regulatory agencies (NRAs) and a European agency (ACER) in energy market regulation. We code rule drafts and agency decisions, and show that private actors not only use technical, but also legal and performative arguments. However, NRAs and ACER have a more balanced reputational strategy. They balance the reputational mix of the private actors when approving rule drafts, adding to the reputational dimensions that private actors neglect. Thus, our article shows how private actors and agencies differ in their regulatory talk within one rulemaking process.