ABSTRACT
The principal direction and research programme of régulation theory are based on concepts and hypotheses that were first developed in the context of research on American capitalism (Aglietta, 1974) and French capitalism, and then gradually evolved and consolidated (Chapter 2). The purpose of this chapter is to bring together the principal alternatives adopted by régulation theory and to offer a brief presentation of the basic conceptual structures employed by this research. Definitions of the main concepts of régulation theory are provided in a glossary at the end of the book; terms included in the glossary are marked with an asterisk in the text.
