Although the high-profile success of companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Zipcar and CouchSurfing quickly thrust the term ‘sharing economy’ into the spotlight, the concept was not born overnight.
Through a recently published co-edited book, Yasanthi Perera, an assistant professor of Business Ethics in Brock’s Goodman School of Business, helps to examine the past, present and future of peer-to-peer based exchanges.
The Rise of the Sharing Economy: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities of Collaborative Consumption is the effort of 22 writers from around the world in the marketing, management and technology sectors.
Market-mediated companies such as Uber and Airbnb represent only one model of collaborative consumption, Perera said.
“There are many more perspectives of the sharing economy if you look at the broader context of sharing, and this book draws those different perspectives together,” she said.
“In addition to for-profit companies, there are non-profit based organizations and transactions where money is not exchanged. The various authors themselves view the sharing economy differently, which I think brings value to the collection because it highlights the diversity of perspectives in this area.”
Providing a holistic view of the concept of collaborative consumption, the book explores the development of the modern day sharing economy, how it is sustained, how technology is a facilitating force and what its future looks like.
The book covers several topics, including the precursors to modern-day sharing such as co-operatives, unusual peer-to-peer sharing models such as clothing libraries, and government collaborations to develop sharing cities. It also explores how companies like Uber and Airbnb have disrupted their industries and presented unique challenges.
Perera, who co-edited the book with Pia Albinsson, Associate Professor of Marketing at Appalachian State University, says the idea came from their co-authored research on similar topics.
“We were interested in the concept of sharing itself and then became interested in people’s motives for sharing,” she said.
Goodman School of Business Dean Andrew Gaudes says the book brings Goodman faculty to the forefront of the conversation surrounding the sharing economy.
“Yasanthi’s book is a great collaboration not only across universities, but also across nations on the very compelling topic of the sharing economy,” he said. “The strength of our faculty is shown in the fact that they are able to speak, not only in a business school setting, but also in businesses and in the larger areas of the economic landscape.”
