Disruptive Technologies and Local Regulations: Policy Leaning in Venue Shifting

Lori Qingyuan Yue and Jue Wang reflect on their article, “Policy Learning in Nascent Industries’ Venue Shifting: A Study of the U.S. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Industry,” which was recently published in Business & Society.

Disruptive technologies pose daunting questions for regulators. Hydraulic fracturing, drones, ridesharing, and facial recognition are examples of disruptive technologies that have spawned new, fast-growing industries and created unprecedented challenges for the environment, human safety, privacy, etc. The fear that without proper constraints technologies may run amok has propelled many local governments to restrict such technologies. How are technology firms to respond to these local restrictions?