Uber's Regulatory Tightrope: Disrupting While Dodging Oversight

Platform companies like Uber fundamentally disrupt the regulatory frameworks governing their sectors.

New Model for Regulation?

This study examines Uber in the United States as a unique case of "disruptive regulation," deviating from traditional regulatory models.

Disregarding Incumbents First:

Uber successfully disregards existing regulations while entering markets, effectively navigating through established rules.

Two-Step Regulatory Strategy Revealed:

The process involves two main steps:

• Phase 1: The new entrant (challenger) bypasses or ignores the incumbent regulatory regime.
• Phase 2: This leads to a politics of regulating the challenger itself, resulting in what we term "dual regulatory regime."

Challenger Capture Dominates:

The regulation of Uber primarily takes the form of "challenger capture," an elite-driven strategy where Uber largely prevails. In this role as a surrogate:

• Representing Dispersed Actors: Uber represents dispersed groups like customers and drivers who lack autonomous power.
• Selective Advocacy: It frequently mobilizes large numbers of these users to lobby for favorable policies allowing continued service on preferred terms.

Uneven Regulatory Success:

Labor issues arising from this system have disproportionately landed in judicial venues. While Uber has been able to manage customer and driver interests effectively through its surrogate role, legal challenges related to labor conditions have gained more traction but remain unresolved.