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Sharing economy

The principle of a sharing economy is that commodities or property are shared, either for money
or for another equivalent. Specialized online platforms are most often used for this, where supply
meets demand. In recent years, one can observe how the topic of the shared economy is gaining
more and more attention at the world level. The speed, dynamics and scope of the change point
to a substantial long-term trend, and like any change, this phenomenon of the 21st century of the

shared economy brings its own risks, which can be, for example, the semi-legal way of its
functioning.
Defining the sharing economy is quite difficult, there are currently many different definitions of the

sharing economy. For example, Goudin (2016) in his study The Cost of Non-Europe in the Sharing
Economy: Economic, Social and Legal Challenges and Opportunities emphasizes the need to
determine clear criteria for the correct definition by analysing and compiling existing definitions.
He defines the sharing economy as “the use of digital platforms or portals to reduce the scale for
viable hiring transactions or viable participation in consumer hiring markets (i.e., 'sharing' in the
sense of hiring an asset) and thereby reduce the extent to which assets are under-utilized.” In
contrast, Frenken and Schor (2017) define the sharing economy as “consumers granting each

other temporary access to under-utilized physical assets ('idle capacity'), possibly for money.”

Principles of the sharing economy

• Makes the use of resources more efficient.

• No value is wasted.

• The possibility of peer-to-peer (p2p) transactions while empowering individuals.

• Redistribution of assets. It promotes access over ownership.

• Trust is important, especially when building a reputation and building relationships in
the sharing economy, so both sides of the transaction must be trustworthy.

• Sharing of information to enable users to gain access to resources.

• The sharing economy is a market-based system.

• The sharing economy is crowd-based.

Advantages of the sharing economy

• Reduction of transaction costs

• Increasing the size of the market and its efficiency

• Development of new internet platforms facilitating trade

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