Sharing isn't new. Giving someone a ride, having a guest in your spare room, running errands for someone, participating in a supper club -- these are not revolutionary concepts. What is new, in the "sharing economy," is that you are not helping a friend for free; you are providing these services to a stranger for money. In this book, Arun Sundararajan, an expert on the sharing economy, explains the transition to what he describes as "crowd-based capitalism" -- a new way of organizing economic activity that may supplant the traditional corporate-centered model. As peer-to-peer commercial exchange blurs the lines between the personal and the professional, how will the economy, government regulation, what it means to have a job, and our social fabric be affected? Drawing on extensive research and numerous real-world examples -- including Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, Etsy, TaskRabbit, France's BlaBlaCar, China's Didi Kuaidi, and India's Ola, Sundararajan explains the basics of crowd-based capitalism. He describes the intriguing mix of "gift" and "market" in its transactions, demystifies emerging blockchain technologies, and clarifies the dizzying array of emerging on-demand platforms. He considers how this new paradigm changes economic growth and the future of work. Will we live in a world of empowered entrepreneurs who enjoy professional flexibility and independence? Or will we become disenfranchised digital laborers scurrying between platforms in search of the next wedge of piecework? Sundararajan highlights the important policy choices and suggests possible new directions for self-regulatory organizations, labor law, and funding our social safety net.
Cited By
- Thuppilikkat A, Dhar D and Chandra P (2024). Union Makes Us Strong: Space, Technology, and On-Demand Ridesourcing Digital Labour Platforms, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8:CSCW2, (1-36), Online publication date: 7-Nov-2024.
- Anjali Anwar I, Garcia P and Hui J (2024). Entangled Independence: From Labor Rights to Gig "Empowerment" Under the Algorithmic Gaze, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 8:CSCW2, (1-26), Online publication date: 7-Nov-2024.
- Cheng X, Mamalis T, Bose S and Varshney L (2024). On Carsharing Platforms With Electric Vehicles as Energy Service Providers, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 25:7, (8158-8170), Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024.
- Lee K, Bellamy M and Joglekar N (2023). Distributed service with proximal capacity and pricing on a two‐sided sharing economy platform, Journal of Operations Management, 69:5, (742-763), Online publication date: 13-Jul-2023.
- Spektor F, Fox S, Awumey E, Begleiter B, Kulkarni C, Stringam B, Riordan C, Rho H, Akridge H and Forlizzi J (2023). Charting the Automation of Hospitality: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review Examining the Evolution of Frontline Service work in the Face of Algorithmic Management, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7:CSCW1, (1-20), Online publication date: 14-Apr-2023.
- Xiong L, Wang C and Xu Z (2022). Supply and demand matching model of P2P sharing accommodation platforms considering fairness, Electronic Commerce Research, 22:3, (951-978), Online publication date: 1-Sep-2022.
- Qi Z, Chen D and Xu J (2022). Do facial images matter? Understanding the role of private information disclosure in crowdfunding markets, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 54:C, Online publication date: 1-Jul-2022.
- Ma S, Ren F and Wan F (2022). Sharing benefits? The disparate impact of home-sharing platform on industrial and social development, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 53:C, Online publication date: 1-May-2022.
- Abhishek V, Guajardo J and Zhang Z (2021). Business Models in the Sharing Economy, Information Systems Research, 32:4, (1450-1469), Online publication date: 1-Dec-2021.
- Aroles J, Cecez-Kecmanovic D, Dale K, Kingma S and Mitev N (2021). New ways of working (NWW), Information and Organization, 31:4, Online publication date: 1-Dec-2021.
- Berns K, Rossitto C and Tholander J Queuing for Waste: Sociotechnical Interactions within a Food Sharing Community Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1-15)
- Ntouros V, Kouki H and Vlachokyriakos V (2021). Designing Sharing Economy Platforms through a 'Solidarity HCI' lens, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 5:CSCW1, (1-25), Online publication date: 13-Apr-2021.
- Kamanga R and Matthews J The Role of Digital Work Platforms in Negotiating New Power Dynamics Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies, (329-330)
- Schlagwein D, Schoder D and Spindeldreher K (2019). Consolidated, systemic conceptualization, and definition of the “sharing economy”, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 71:7, (817-838), Online publication date: 8-Jun-2020.
- Dann D, Teubner T, Adam M and Weinhardt C (2020). Where the host is part of the deal, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 40:C, Online publication date: 1-Mar-2020.
- Teubner T and Graul A (2020). Only one room left! How scarcity cues affect booking intentions on hospitality platforms, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 39:C, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2020.
- Basili M and Rossi M (2020). Platform-mediated reputation systems in the sharing economy and incentives to provide service quality, Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 39:C, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2020.
- Hui J, Cranshaw J, Kotturi Y and Kulkarni C The Future of Work(places) Companion Publication of the 2019 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, (487-491)
- Tan F, Zhang N, Zhu Z and Leong C Toward Smart City Services in Beijing Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, (513-515)
- Kumar N, Jafarinaimi N and Bin Morshed M (2018). Uber in Bangladesh, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2:CSCW, (1-21), Online publication date: 1-Nov-2018.
- Hui J, Toyama K, Pal J and Dillahunt T (2018). Making a Living My Way, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2:CSCW, (1-24), Online publication date: 1-Nov-2018.
- Lampinen A, Lutz C, Newlands G, Light A and Immorlica N Power Struggles in the Digital Economy Companion of the 2018 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, (417-423)
- Loke S Are We Ready for the Internet of Robotic Things in Public Spaces? Proceedings of the 2018 ACM International Joint Conference and 2018 International Symposium on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Wearable Computers, (891-900)
- Qiu L, Zhao Y, Liu Q, Sun B and Wu X Transaction Modes and Rules in the Perspective of Crowd Science Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Crowd Science and Engineering, (1-5)
- Hsiao J, Moser C, Schoenebeck S and Dillahunt T The Role of Demographics, Trust, Computer Self-efficacy, and Ease of Use in the Sharing Economy Proceedings of the 1st ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies, (1-11)
- Yin M, Suri S and Gray M Running Out of Time Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1-11)
- Qiu W, Parigi P and Abrahao B More Stars or More Reviews? Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (1-11)
- Sutherland W and Jarrahi M (2017). The Gig Economy and Information Infrastructure, Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 1:CSCW, (1-24), Online publication date: 6-Dec-2017.
- Sjblom M, Trhnen M, Hamari J and Macey J (2017). Content structure is king, Computers in Human Behavior, 73:C, (161-171), Online publication date: 1-Aug-2017.
- Hendry D, Abokhodair N, Kinsley R and Woelfer J Homeless Young People, Jobs, and a Future Vision Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Communities and Technologies, (22-31)
- Moser C, Resnick P and Schoenebeck S Community Commerce Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (4344-4357)
- Dillahunt T, Kameswaran V, Li L and Rosenblat T Uncovering the Values and Constraints of Real-time Ridesharing for Low-resource Populations Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, (2757-2769)
- Parigi P and Ma X (2016). The gig economy, XRDS: Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students, 23:2, (38-41), Online publication date: 15-Dec-2016.
- Ertiö T, Maunula G and Blomqvist K Crowdsourcing Proceedings of the 20th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, (460-461)
Index Terms
- The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism