Abstract:
This thesis presents a longitudinal study of the regulation of the UK retail pensions
market. A framework is developed to analyse regulation and regulatory change and to
identify the policies and events which may be hypothesised to affect the operation of
the market. A provisional model is devised to show the relationships among regulation,
the strategic decision-making of market participants and key dimensions of the market
(products, prices, demand, distribution channels, costs and industry structure). The
empirical evidence shows that over an extended period of time (from the mid-1980s to
2007) regulation affected product development, product pricing, demand, the evolution
of distribution channels, producer costs and margins and ultimately the industry
structure. The cumulative effect of and interaction among three separate but related
public policies shaped the market that is observed in 2008. Over the period since the
mid-1980s, the market has been affected more by regulation than by any economic,
social or technological change. An evaluation of public policies towards the market
shows that policy objectives have not been met and that policies have led to
unforeseen and undesirable outcomes. The provisional model is developed to
contribute towards the theory of regulated competition. This thesis makes a
methodological contribution by developing techniques to assess and evaluate
government intervention in a market over the longer term and to consider the
interactions between different but related public policy initiatives. An agenda for further
research building on this study is proposed. This thesis also makes a contribution to
business history in relation to the UK insurance industry. The change in the structure of
the industry over the last twenty years is significant in the light of the long history of the
industry and the role it has played in the development of retail financial markets in the UK.
