Regulation and governance of the sharing economy by U.S. local governments

The sharing economy has disrupted industries and raises inquiries into the logic of existing regulations. Despite the varying levels of legislative status of the sharing economy, systematic research on governance that frames regulatory issues on such innovations has been lacking in the academic literature, particularly in the public administration field. In this research, we (1) examine determinants that influence the legislative status of regulations with a focus on sharing economy innovations in the U.S., and (2) explore the stakeholder groups that are perceived to be influential in shaping the regulatory environment among U.S. local government policymakers. The results indicate that stakeholder groups actively engaged in legislative lobbying as well as jurisdictional characteristics such as geographical region are associated with whether a local government is active in regulating the local sharing economy. This article offers insights into how policymakers govern the innovations taking place in their communities.