Although there has been a resurgence of interest in red-tape research, much of this research has the limited focus of testing for public-private distinctions and has used a wide range of concepts and measures. In some ways, progress on substantive issues surrounding how to contend with red tape is stymied by the multiplicity of theoretical specifications and operational measures for red tape. Relatedly, the concept of red tape continues to be confounded with formalization. Therefore, this article addresses two key questions: how different are the various theoretical specifications of red tape? To what extent do different measures of red tape and formalization measure the same underlying realities? A theoretical analysis providing an intellectual history of different examination of several operational measures in carried out for asceertaining construct validity. The empirical analysis for construct multitrait-multimethod matrix of correlation coefficients. Our analysis indicates that there has been considerable progress in concpet development on red tape in the last two decades, and the red-tape measures based on these concepts show both convergent and discriminant validity with respect to formalization. We also note that much additional work, especially in scale development, remains to be done. Progress on measurement, thorough careful development of concepts and measurement, through careful development of concepts and measurement scales, is essential for better informing public management praxis