"Insurance Regulation in Germany: Markets or Norms?"

[From the Introduction]. A Single Market? It has often been argued that variations in market regulation in the member countries of the EU continue to be formidable obstacles to European financial market integration (Lamfalussy, 2000). The question has subsequently been raised whether differences in market regulation are being upheld in order to protect domestic companies from foreign competitors. This paper asks why national approaches to sectoral regulation differ in the first place. If one is to believe the economic literature on sectoral regulation, public intervention is only justified in cases of market failures (Kay and Vickers, 1990). So, why do we see different approaches to market regulation