The growing number of studies on red tape over the last several years has led to notable progress in our understanding of red tape. For example, sectoral comparisons have both challenged and reinforced traditional beliefs about the prima facie existence of higher levels of red tape in the public sector. In addition, the research has led to improvements in how we conceptualize red tape and distinguish it from closely related constructs such as formalization. But several gaps remain, one of which concerns the degree to which red tape is essentially an objective or subjective phenomenon. This paper presents an overview of this lineage of research, with particular focus on red tape’s subjective/individualistic nature. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future research.