The article proposes a multidimensional approach to the analysis of the modes of regulation at local level, which combines the neoinstitutional approach with the analysis of the culture of local government. Focusing on the two different modes of regulation of the local systems of small enterprise, those of the Veneto and Emilia Romagna regions, the author suggests a number of indicators that permit to articulate the comparison by contexts of the two regional systems. This approach takes into account a number of simple and complex variables, from administrative style and different models of public resources management to divergent capacity of the two regions to respond to the challenge of Europeanization.