Abstract The role of the state in the market affairs has been one of the most debated, yet highly controversial topics of discussion throughout recent history. Particularly, the economic impact of the state regulation evokes a spirited debate and splits the scholarship into various contesting groups. However, majority of studies investigating the nexus of state regulation and economic performance seem to have yielded overly ambiguous results due to the conceptual shortcomings. State regulation is often understood as simply an issue of the technical design of the regulatory framework and/or formal institutional arrangements. However, the current research argues that state regulation is a far more complex policy phenomenon, and actual regulatory environments could be considerably different from the formal de jure regulatory framework that the regulator establishes. Hence, success or failure of the regulatory policy depends not only on the capacity of the state to create a good regulatory framework and institutional arrangements, but also to deliver and enforce regulations effectively and efficiently. By examining the regulation and growth nexus in the case of Central Asian economies, this research demonstrates how a more broader conceptualization of the notion of state regulation can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the issues and yield somewhat different outcomes than the standard literature. In doing so, the research adopts mixed-method analysis: quantitative technique is employed to assess the relationship between variations in the quality of regulatory policy and economic outcomes in regional countries; qualitative research is used to complement and increase the robustness of the quantitative findings. The study concludes that despite having sound regulatory frameworks and appropriate institutional arrangements, regulatory policies’ contribution to the economic growth have been insignificant in Central Asian countries due to the ineffective regulatory compliance and enforcement.