커뮤니케이션 기술의 발전과 디지털 플랫폼 규제

Internet and digitalization has enabled communication which is new in its scope and structure. It has brought new types of enterprising of capital and labor. The sharing economy based on digital platform is a good example. To fine proper regulatory response to such digital platform business, we need to define the essence of its innovation. Munger suggested that the prosper of digital platform industry means a rise of the “middleman economy” and its value is in decreasing transaction cost based on the communication technology, which has stimulated new way of enterprise, to resource and combine capital and labor. Among the transaction cost the successful risk management with contract and the parties' trust in it couldn't be assured by the parties themselves. Therefore in the area of goods and services the continuous supply of which is a task for welfare state, the regulation by law has played the role to manage risk and produce social trust. If a digital platform industry has successfully removed the transaction cost related with risk management and social trust, it will be reasonable to consider removal of the regulatory barrier based on the past model of enterprise. However a part of the transaction cost decrease is the transfer of transaction cost from the digital platform industry to user, supplier, and society, which has less value for society. For example, Uber diminished the transaction cost for finding the supplier and demander of differentiated riding service due to the IT technology, but the cost of control of danger with taxi service has partly moved from the platform to individual supplier and demander. For such part it is only innovation of the Uber, not entire society. Then we should be prudent in reforming regulation and try to find a third model of regulation to enable good innovation and control the transferred risk by platform industry.