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Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases

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Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers

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Chapter Overview/Abstract

Sharing economy is a rising star despite COVID-19 woes. From Ralph Lauren tapping into the new subscription rental service in North America to the power bank rental company Energy Master in China—sharing economy has become a robust business model worldwide. According to PwC, sharing global economy revenues would reach US$335 billion by 2025. This has become a thrust area for scholars and practitioners because of the largescale diffusion of digital and mobile platforms that facilitate multi-partite interactions. Also, sharing economy has been considered a promising alternative to resolve specific socio-economic problems, reduce unnecessary consumption, provide a uniquely sustainable way of doing business, and create values for the environment and people. However, there is little consensus on the definition and domain of sharing economy. Therefore, this chapter introduces the concept and highlights it driving forces, theories, and some of the most prominent firms. We discuss four principles: trust and reputation, access/ownership, open and precise information, and value optimization. Then we present some of the prominent frameworks of sharing economy. Since most people are aware of the practical examples of Uber and Airbnb, this chapter discusses examples from other industry sectors to broaden our understanding of the application scenarios and the practical feasibility of the sharing economy concept. The chapter concludes with review questions for the readers. These questions are relevant to academic/research scholars and management graduates, providing them future research directions and encouraging their thoughts on the practical ramifications of sharing economy, respectively. Thus, this chapter aligns with this book by considering sharing economy as a combination of economic and non-economic activities built on a technological platform.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow, India

    Priyanka Sharma

  2. IIM Road, Prabandh Nagar, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226013, India

    Priyanka Sharma

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  1. Priyanka Sharma
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Correspondence to Priyanka Sharma .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nottingham University Business School China, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, China

    Jishnu Bhattacharyya

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Sharma, P. (2022). Sharing Economy: The Concepts and Cases. In: Bhattacharyya, J. (eds) Dealing with Socially Responsible Consumers. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4457-4_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-19-4456-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-19-4457-4

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