This dissertation adopts a socio-legal approach to explore the interaction between regulation and contracts in the independent television production industry. “Regulation” is defined as a system of ex ante and ex post rules intended to govern behaviour, which involves monitoring compliance and sanctioning, and has a stable source. “Contract” is defined as a mode of coordinating exchange that operates within the framework of rules set by regulation, while itself operating as a source of rules. The dissertation studies the way in which contracts and regulation interact and evolve over time in such a way as to shape industry structure.

This issue is first examined at a theoretical level. Two sets of theories are reviewed: new institutional economics, with particular reference to transaction cost economics and norms theory; and autopoietic social systems theory. Despite their different methodological foundations, these theories are shown to be reconcilable and to provide a common set of research questions concerning the interaction of contracts and regulation. The research questions are then explored at an empirical level through the use of a cross-national case study. The study analyses the role of compulsory independent production quotas, licensing models of terms of trade, and social norms in creating competitive markets for television production in the United Kingdom and Portugal.

Case study evidence indicates that there has not been a straightforward move from in-house television production to a competitive market in either country. The elements of regulation intended to introduce competition in television production have so far accommodated norms that sustain contractual relationships and which have emerged to safeguard quality in television programming. But as independent production firms increase their commercial orientation, television programming is reconfigured as a commodity, with significant consequences for the concept and practice of public service broadcasting. Changes in terms of trade and legal rules are having an effect on the boundaries of firms and markets, but the norms that sustain contracts in television production are also influencing the way in which legal rules and terms of trade are being redesigned and interpreted. The dissertation demonstrates the role played by both regulation and contract in redrawing organisational boundaries, reconstituting inter-firm relationships and engendering new financial flows, in ways which are fundamentally changing the nature and structure of the television production industry.