Performing the sharing economy

Regulating the sharing economy

In this introductory essay, we explore definitions of the ‘sharing economy’, a concept indicating both social (relational, communitarian) and economic (allocative, profit-seeking) aspects which appear to be in tension. We suggest combining the social and economic logics of the sharing economy to focus on the central features of network enabled, aggregated membership in a pool of offers and dema...

Improving the Transparency of the Sharing Economy

The idealistic beginnings of the sharing economy made ways to an entrenched battle to win over the public opinion and for law makers to appreciate its benefits and its risks. The stakes are high as the success of services like Airbnb reveals that under-utilized assets (e.g. spare rooms or apartments left vacant) can be efficiently matched to individual demands to generate a significant surplus ...

The Sharing Economy for the Smart Grid

The sharing economy has disrupted housing and transportation sectors. Homeowners can rent out their property when they are away on vacation, car owners can offer ride sharing services. These sharing economy business models are based on monetizing under-utilized infrastructure. They are enabled by peer-to-peer platforms that match eager sellers with willing buyers. Are there compelling sharing e...

Prices and Subsidies in the Sharing Economy

The growth of the sharing economy is driven by the emergence of sharing platforms, e.g., Uber and Lyft, that match owners looking to share their resources with customers looking to rent them. The design of such platforms is a complex mixture of economics and engineering, and how to “optimally”design such platforms is still an open problem. In this paper, we focus on the design of prices and sub...

Emergent Collectives Redux: The Sharing Economy