What is Sharing economy ?
Sharing Economy vs. Exchanging Economy: You can explore the distinction between the sharing economy and exchanging economy, and discuss whether some sharing platforms engage in “sharewashing” or intentionally disguise economic exploitation. You can use current examples of sharing platforms and their practices to illustrate this.
Business Models of Digital Ecosystems: Investigate how companies like Amazon, Apple, Alibaba, and Airbnb have become some of the most valuable companies by market capitalization through their digital ecosystems. Discuss how these companies benefit from assets-light models, nearly zero marginal costs, and network effects. Use current examples to show how these models are evolving in 2023.
Regulations and Workers’ Rights: Analyze the regulatory challenges and workers’ rights issues in the sharing economy. Discuss topics such as worker compensation, insurance coverage, taxation implications, and legislative implications for employment. Use current events or cases to highlight these issues and how they are being addressed in 2023.
News Media Bargaining Code: Explore the impact of legislation like the News Media Bargaining Code on digital platforms and news publishers. Discuss how such regulations affect the relationship between digital platforms and the media industry. Use the most recent developments in this area in 2023 as your example.
Social Capital and Sharing: Investigate the concept of social capital in the sharing economy. Discuss the intangible economic value of social capital and how it plays a role in the success of sharing platforms. You can use examples of communities or platforms that rely on social capital transactions in 2023.
Global Variations in Digital Platforms: Compare and contrast how digital platforms operate in different regions, such as Western corporate control by GAFAM in the West versus government data control in China and Russia. Discuss the cultural, economic, and political factors that influence platform operation and regulation in various parts of the world.