Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Proposed by
Proposed to
Thesis Adviser
September 1, 2017
AREA OF STUDY
This study will integrate the areas of political science, economics, and sociology on
analyzing the emergence of the ‘sharing economy’ in transport and how government regulation can
come fit towards establishing welfare benefits among actors in the economy.
The recent boom of internet commerce has help innovate mobility and transport. Ride
sharing companies, Grab and Uber in the Philippines have penetrated the market economy with its
insertion of the ‘sharing economy’. The use of mobile applications with the use of the internet has
challenged traditional incumbent firms hence, ‘disruptive’ as it create a service that “repackages old
technology” (Katz, 2015). This has also challenged government regulators as it is an “innovation
that disrupts existing regulatory schemes”, vis-a-vis, regulatory disruption (Cortez cited by Katz,
2015).
Recent studies include the European Union presenting the puzzle at hand given the case of
Uber to generate a fitting regulation (Azevedo & Maciejewski, 2015). The academe has also been
puzzled by the same issue as in the case of The University of British Columbia as it presented a
study presenting a review of impacts and emerging regulatory framework for the Transportation
Network Companies, specifically, Uber. More importantly, the study has given policy analysis and
The puzzle has also been more evident in the Philippines given the lack of appropriate
policy for LTFRB to regulate Transport Network Companies given its difference in nature as
Much interest is placed on regulation, and how a study would be helpful to guide the
economy would be necessary. According to Meir, “Regulatory policy must be viewed as a complex
interaction between the interests and resources of industry, consumers, regulatory bureaucrats, and
Integrating a more comprehensive approach, that of political economy, this shall adopt a
“positive perspective” that views “regulation as demanded and supplied as a function of the
interests of those who incur the distributive consequences of policy alternatives” (ibid).
Specifically, the regulatory policy should be designed given the present issue (political activity) and
to reach “possible opportunistic political action intended to change the policy as a result of
The gap is found on how to reach a decision (output as political action) towards the issue of
regulation in the different cases of Uber and Grab in the Philippines, as specific representatives
How does interest group participation affect the puzzle of propriety and efficiency in the
creation of a new regulatory framework for the differing cases of Uber and Grab in the Philippines?
a. Who are the interest groups and why are they involved in the cases of Uber and Grab in
the Philippines?
a. 1. How are the powers or influences of each group affect policy decisions?
a. 1.1. How are the interplay of political influences from taxi lobby groups,
making?
a. 2.2. How are the interplay of social influences emphasizing the welfare
decision making?
a.2. How different is Uber from Grab, and vice-versa? Are the interest groups
b. How are regulatory frameworks created in the Philippines? Are there similar cases in the
historical narrative of regulatory framework creation that interest group participation has
been a crucial step towards generating a fitting regulation for the industry and its issue/s?
This study aims to explain whether interest group participation can affect positively or
negatively the puzzle of propriety and efficiency in the creation of a regulatory framework.
a. Distinguish the difference of Uber and Grab and identify the interest groups of each
a.1. Discuss what are the various aspects of political, social, and economic narratives
a.2. Gather data from the interest groups on their inputs for the issues on Uber and
Grab and the regulation needed in reference to their interests and background (i.e.
a. 2.1. Identify lobby groups and the connections inside the congress to assess
and predictability;
a. 2.3. Analyze economic data on the case of Uber and Grab (supply and
demand, minimal transaction costs, gains from increased mobility, gains from
a.3. Discuss how these narratives, surveys, group discussion results have become
procedure;
a.4. Identify and distinguish power and influence of each interest groups;
b. Identify and describe historical narratives relating to regulatory frameworks that include
interest group participation in its creation. Discuss output and impact from these regulations
(policy evaluation).
1. Interest groups in the Philippines are expanded given the benefits that Uber and Grab have
brought to society;
2. Government is open to these inputs (given the government structure, but how about the
actual process? )
3. There are historical narratives related to the creation of regulatory framework, and the
4. Am I assuming a pluralistic nature inside the government? Perhaps in this case since the
government is both pressured by various interest groups, and the heightened number of
Uber and Grab patrons among the first class and middle/working class.
5. There is also a need for a regulation, but how will government know, without the collective
This study will review on regulation theories and the link on interest group participation in
the creation of the structure of regulation. This includes the principal-agent theory and the policy
subsystems theory. This is also interested on the specific cases that show the integration of interest
groups’ input to the policymaking procedures (discussing interest groups and the theories related to
their actions, i.e. rational choice and how they represent political, economic, and social interests).
The regulatory frameworks done by other countries on Uber/Grab and the procedure of its creation
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This study will utilize the theory integrated by Barch (2014) on the interest group influence
over regulatory policy. This includes the influence of complexity on interest group influence, the
strong principal control system. This will further support the understanding on the perception of
interest group influence and the use of interest group information. For instance, Furlong and Kerwin
(2004) have found the relevance of interest group participation to the building of the regulatory
framework.
This study will then build on the comprehensive usage of the model by Barch, with the use
of the economic theory of regulation by Stigler (1971), the interest group and predatory capture
(Roberts and Kurtenbach, 1998 & Etzioni, 2009), and theories of biased pluralism (Gilens & Page,
2014) .
PROPOSED RESEARCH DESIGN, METHODS/PROCEDURES
The research design will be built on research done into the use of both quantitative and
qualitative methods. This discussion of the methodology will present some of the specific tools and
methods to be used.
The study will conduct a case research to be able to have an in-depth investigation of the
problem. The data may be collected using a combination of interviews, personal observations, and
internal (within Department of Transportation, Uber, and Grab documents) and external (newspaper
clippings). This is to discover a wide variety of social, cultural, and political factors related.
The research will have a survey of drivers and clients of both Uber and Grab on their inputs
as representative of two various interest groups. Key informant interviews will also be done from
the economic groups, and from Uber and Grab. Interestingly, the inputs of the the drivers and
clients will also be formatted for a separate survey for the regulators and the Congress (committee
on transportation) and key informant interviews. The results of two group surveys will then be
analyze in terms of their relationship on the strength of the influence of each interest to the
decision-making of the government. This will then use regression and correlation to test the
This will use historical and content analysis to measure the strength of interest groups in
previous policies. This will then be verified to some congress decision-making documents related to
transport regulation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Azevedo, F. & Maciejeski M. (2015). Social, Economic and Legal Consequences of Uber and
Indiana University).
Furlong, S. R., & Kerwin, C. M. (2004). Interest group participation in rule making: A decade of
Gilens, M., & Page, B. I. (2014). Testing theories of American politics: Elites, interest groups, and
Katz, V. (2015). Regulating the sharing economy. Berkeley Tech. LJ, 30, 1067. Retrieved August
Meier, K. J. (1988). The political economy of regulation: The case of insurance. Suny Press.
Ngo, V. (2015). Transportation Network Companies and the Ridesourcing Industry: A Review of
Impacts and Emerging Regulatory Frameworks for Uber. The University of British
Columbia, School of Community and Regional Planning. Public Report. Retrieved August
Philippine News Agency (2017 July 19). Lawmakers want to regulate Uber, Grab. Republic of the
Roberts, R. W., & Kurtenbach, J. M. (1998). State regulation and professional accounting
Stigler, G. J. (1971). The theory of economic regulation. The Bell journal of economics and