Societies get to decide on their "traditions" and they need not be efficient - the "new world" has oddities there, too. (Not sure how guilds in cities relate to kings if we are talking about Handwerk, though.) If people were dead set against things like Meisterzwang in some areas it would not exist (and it has indeed been removed in some areas).
It isn't regulatory capture of local government: local governments want business to stick around and having demonstrated sticking around is a signal there. What you don't want is someone coming in, collecting subsidies in varies ways to then leave quickly again.
It isn't regulatory capture of local government: local governments want business to stick around and having demonstrated sticking around is a signal there. What you don't want is someone coming in, collecting subsidies in varies ways to then leave quickly again.