Sustainability perspectives on the sharing economy

Sustainability perspectives on the sharing economyThe rise of the sharing economy is arguably one of the most significant global socio-economic developments over the past decade.Using online platforms, millions of consumers have started to offer their idle goods for free or a fee.Although this practice existed before the advent of online platforms, it was then confined to sharing among family and friends.Online platforms have enabled consumers to share their possessions "peer-to-peer" with strangers, as trust is assured by micro-insurances and online reviews provided on the platforms.Items that people share range from valuable possessions such as homes, parking spaces, cars and boats to less valuable goods such as clothes, books and tools.The sharing economy can be understood as part of a wider movement towards platform-based "collaborative consumption" (Botsman and Rogers, 2010).Most include under this umbrella term not just sharing of goods, but also second-hand marketplaces, the gig economy for temporary labor, swapping platforms, time banks (time as currency), and peer-to-peer lending.The environmental promise of sharing platforms holds that consumers become much less reliant and dependent on individual, private ownership.Instead, they can have cheap and easy access to goods owned by other consumers that otherwise would stand idle.In doing so, consumers do not only save money but would also contribute to lower material demand and energy use.As such, the sharing economy can been considered, at least potentially, as contributing to a sustainability transition.While the sharing economy has witnessed rapid growth indicating its widespread popularity and acceptance, it is also increasingly criticized (Schor, 2014).Incumbent companies complain about the lack of a level-playing field between on the one hand professional companies who adhere to prevailing regulations and tax obligations and on the other unprofessional providers using platforms who tend to ignore regulations and taxes.Other commentators warn about the monopolistic tendencies of platforms in winner-take-allmarkets due to strong network externalities of online platforms.Furthermore, some argue that the social and environmental gains claimed by sharing enthusiasts may be overrated.Not surprisingly, advocates and critics, as well as policymakers around the world, turn to academics to provide answers to their questions.What are the economic, social and environmental impacts of the sharing economy?How does it affect traditional industries?What regulatory models should apply?Is sharing truly inclusive or are some left out?And, can sharing platforms scale up from their current niches into fully-fledged socio-technical regimes?Against this background, Utrecht University took the initiative to organize a workshop in June 2015 labeled as the first International Workshop on the Sharing Economy (IWSE). 1 The event brought together some 45 presenters and another 100 attendants from all kinds of disciplines (economics, engineering, geography, innovation studies, philosophy, political science, sociology, transportation, etc.).This workshop was quickly followed by the 2nd IWSE organized by ESCP Europe in Paris (January 2016), the 3rd IWSE organized by the University of Southampton (September 2016) and the 4th IWSE organized by Lund University (June 2017).This special issue brings together nine papers on the sharing economy with a common focus on sustainability, interpreted in a broad sense. 2The issue starts with an introduction by Frenken and Schor who provide an analytical definition and classification of the sharing economy, and then summarize the research done so far on the economic, environmental and social impacts of the sharing economy.They end with discussing current government regulations and alternative governance modes.The second paper by De Rivera and co-authors takes a different route and derives a typology of sharing platform empirically using a "netnographic protocol".They analyze 55 platforms across four dimensions: functionality and usability, trust and virtual reputation, codes of conduct and community footprint.From the analysis, the authors derive a new typology: network, transaction and community oriented platforms.