The relationship between shared mobility and regulation in South Korea: A system dynamics approach from the socio-technical transitions perspective

Abstract

Since the advent of Uber, various shared mobility (SM) services have been introduced to exploit the blind spot of existing regulations in South Korea; nevertheless, the only limited services have been available because of the opposition from local stakeholders and the government's heavy-handed regulation. In this study, we discuss the diffusion and acceptance of SM services in South Korea's mobility market and its prospects from the perspective of socio-technical transitions. We designed a feedback model based on socio-technical system perspective to clarify the causal relationship between information and communication technology innovation and regulation in South Korea's mobility market; further, we applied a system dynamics simulation technique for testing three policy scenarios. We find that the diffusion of SM services is likely to be hampered if the current regulation is maintained and that the regulation reform without special measures could cause taxi services to lose a competitive advantage against SM services. Research and development investment through subsidies from SM services in the taxi industry innovation could encourage competitiveness, which could coexist with SM services, thereby bringing about a social benefit to adopters.