Sharing Economy

The ‘sharing economy’ is a collective term for business models that enable the shared use of resources with the help of networks. An idea of community and trust between strangers are two important foundations for such models. Equally important, a critical mass of users must be reached and resources must be freely accessible. It is changes in consumer behaviour and the increasing willingness not to own things that lead to a growing interest in the sharing economy. New information technologies enable interaction between stakeholders. But despite the positive aspects of sharing, this new way of doing business is criticised for various reasons: due to a lack of regulation, sharing models often have an unfair economic advantage over traditional models, and workers are atomised, reduced to ‘contractors’, working self-employed, without social security or other protections. Areas of life that were previously regulated by friendships or social norms are being commercialised, and many see privacy endangered by the exchange and collection of data. Time and again one finds the sharing economy leads to unsustainable solutions, contrary to its stated objectives.