Regulatory Sandbox Adoption and Policy Instrument Choice in Europe

Working Paper

QCA

Regulatory Sandboxes

R

Preprint Manuscript (AOM) examining why fintech regulatory sandboxes spread unevenly across Europe.

Author

Affiliation

Alfredo Hernández Sánchez

Vilnius University

Published

July 15, 2026

Doi

10.33774/apsa-2026-fqjw1

Description

This working paper presents the Author’s Original Manuscript (AOM) pre-print version of an academic article examining why some European countries introduced FinTech regulatory sandboxes while others relied on innovation hubs, guidance, or ordinary supervision. Using a crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 30 EU and EEA countries, it finds that no common profile explains sandbox adoption. The clearest pattern appears among non-adopters, where existing regulatory tools often made a sandbox unnecessary. The figure below shows when the different sandbox models appeared across Europe. The full working paper and methodology can be read below. Visit the FIRSA Dashboard to explore the results.

Key Figure(s)

Figure 1. Sandbox adoption timing by design type.

Full Text

Citation