The politics of policy change in platform capitalism: A systematic review of the literature on the regulation of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs)
Recent evidence indicates that the launch and establishment of firms such as Uber and other similar ride-hailing platforms, also known as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), has not only provoked a technological change for traditional industries such as the taxi sector but also generated policy...
| Autores: | , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) |
| Repositorio: | O2, repositorio institucional de la UOC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:openaccess.uoc.edu:10609/152526 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10609/152526 https://doi.org/10.1177/29768624241304599 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | ride-hailing Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) gig economy platform capitalism urban transportation governance |
| Sumario: | Recent evidence indicates that the launch and establishment of firms such as Uber and other similar ride-hailing platforms, also known as Transportation Network Companies (TNCs), has not only provoked a technological change for traditional industries such as the taxi sector but also generated policy disruption. An interdisciplinary field around the gig economy is developing on these topics where multiple approaches in political processes converge, opening concerns around the governance of platforms and the possibility of their regulation, where it stands out in the case of urban transportation. This article reviews the scholarly debate around the politics of platform regulation in the ride-hailing market. We conducted a systematic search following the PRISMA methodology, synthesizing the main findings of 26 studies that examine policy responses over regulatory matters involving multiple stakeholders and ride-hailing platforms in diverse cities and countries. We identified four analytical categories throughout the thematic synthesis of the literature: Platform Power, Institutional Arrangements, Political Dynamics, and Ideas and Narratives. The findings show that even when the platform power approach is one of the most appealing and discussed in this literature, policy change is being shaped by several complementary factors, depending on contingent trajectories and institutional legacies where the interaction between governments, platform firms, and civil society brings particular paths for platform governance. Although some of the works reviewed provide geographical variety around the different local and national experiences, very few countries of the Global South are represented in those studies, reflecting the critical need to advance comparatively. We conclude by discussing some limitations and potential implications for future research. |
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