The Sharing Economy Case Management Research Paper

The Sharing Economy
Name
Institution
The Sharing Economy
The sharing economy has become one of the most widespread economic models over the last decade. Almost every sector of the economy has some form of a sharing economy platform. Before dwelling further into the sharing economy, it is important to understand what the term means. The sharing economy is an economic model that allows parties to exchange and gain access to goods and services (Cannon & Summers, 2014). Thus, parties can share and use products without the need for ownership. Many people have access to car rides through platforms such as Uber or Lyft, although they do not have ownership of the cars. This essay will explore the role of technology in the sharing economy, as well as the extent to which there is a social side of ‘sharing’. Further, this essay will examine the impacts of the sharing economy on consumers and workers and address the regulation controversy around the sharing economy.
The sharing economy has thrived because of technology. Technology has allowed people to create digital platforms where they can post and request for services or exchange products. According to Schor (2014), digital technology is the backbone of the sharing economy because it gives people access to new opportunities, services or products, in real-time. It only takes a few seconds to contact an Uber (Scheiber, 2015) and the response is immediate. The users receive information about when the Uber will get to their destination. Besides, many people have access to mobile technologies, which have allowed access to products and services at any time and from any place, thus facilitating the sharing economy. Technology has also facilitated connectivity between users in a marketplace. Such a marketplace allows the recirculation of products, which according to Schor (2014) is one of the main categories of the sharing economy. Technology has also allowed consumers to share feedback with the service providers in real-time or as soon as possible. For instance, the Uber app provides consumers with a section where they can provide feedback about their trip, and such feedback is important as it helps to improve the experience of the user in the future. Finally, technology has facilitated transactions in real-time, which has been one of the factors behind the success of the sharing economy.
The sharing economy has several business models which include the marketplace model and access-based model. The marketplace model is based on the principle of recirculation of products (Schor, 2014). This model ensures there is a supply of goods and services into the market by connecting providers and consumers. Specifically, this model allows providers to supply consumers with goods that are already in existence and are being under-used. Thus, this model aims at connecting the demand with the supply constantly reintroducing the products into the market. The access-based model is based on the concept that there are many under-utilized resources just lying around. Thus, these resources ought to be used to their maximum capacity and the sharing economy facilitates proper utilization (Schor, 2014). The resources include durable assets such as homes and cars. The asset-based model has allowed people to share transportation and accommodation services using Uber and Airbnb, among others. The model also ensures that instead of people purchasing more properties that are under-utilized, they can enhance their usage by sharing with those who lack ownership of such properties, at a fee.
As the name suggests, the sharing economy has been associated with the concept of sharing. The sharing economy was built on the premise of community and peer-to-peer sharing. However, the nature of operations within the sharing economy limits the extent to which a social side of sharing exists. As revealed by Eckhardt and Bardhi (2015), “sharing is a social exchange that takes place among people known to each other, without any profit.” The sharing economy does not fall under this definition because of two reasons. First, participants in the sharing economy do not know each other, which makes it difficult f...