Sharing platforms such as Airbnb and Uber are disrupting a number of different industries, but they’re also raising a lot of policy questions. Across the country and around the globe, governments are grappling with particular problems created by these platforms. Residents complain to their local elected leaders that homes in their neighborhoods should not be rented out as hotels, and taxicab operators have asked regulators to stop what they think is unfair competition from ride-sharing companies. New research from Sarah Light, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics, examines what role the federal government should play in regulating these organizations. Her paper is titled, “ The Role of the Federal Government in Regulating the Sharing Economy ,” and it will appear in the forthcoming book, Cambridge Handbook on the Law of the Sharing Economy. Light recently joined Knowledge at Wharton to discuss what she’s uncovered. An edited transcript of the conversation follows.…