Papers presented by Eppa Rixey since 2019

2024 Providence, Rhode Island

"All Politics is Local: Civic Action to Evolve State-level Regulatory Constraints"

Abstract:

How do small, resource-constrained entrepreneurial firms overcome regulatory constraints despite opposition? Existing research suggests small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need to collaborate with similarly positioned competitors to contend with incumbents advocating for the status quo. This article uses archival and interview data on craft breweries in one state to identify a different approach, shifting from state-wide lobbying to developing legitimacy with locally embedded regulators. Through engagement in public hearings and collaborative experimentation with local regulators and stakeholders, individual craft breweries developed and relied on local legitimacy to prompt city-based regulators to intervene repeatedly to alleviate state-level regulatory constraints on new business models. This paper describes ten local legitimacy strategies by which craft brewers individually promote perceptions of their alignment with local community interests and motivate city-based regulators to assault state-level restrictions on taprooms in 2013 and on beer gardens from 2017 to 2022. By demonstrating how individual SMEs impact state-level regulation through local action, this study extends our understanding of nonmarket strategy to both smaller firms and municipal interactions. Potential limitations of this localized, discretionary approach to regulation are also explored, including the potential for discrimination. Even in a mature industry with well institutionalized, multi-level government regulations, powerful incumbents opposing changes, and minimal technological change, individual small businesses reshaped the regulatory environment of an entire state through local actions.

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