sharing economy

Complaints regarding Airbnb can be split into two distinctive parts. One part is regarding noise, disruption of local communities and other externalities. These complaints are legitimate, but relate to tourism in general, not to the sharing economy in particular.

Our freedom is fragile and must be protected. Polish citizens must feel safe in the modern world that does not look safe at all. Recent years show that threats come from many directions, the most ominous ones from the East and from the South. Terrorism in its broadest sense has become the biggest challenge for the Western world.

If ever there was an example of an unregulated free market approach to the development of a new type of social relations in Bulgaria – it is the spread of the Internet in the country. Bulgaria currently has one of the most developed broadband infrastructures in the EU and frequently makes it in the top 10 of various global connectivity speed rankings.

A sharing economy represents technological progress in all its purity. It is a new way of collaboration between various agents; an efficient way of transforming an existing network of assets into more economic activity. A sharing economy is not a thing, it means thinking!

Sharing economy services are no stranger to controversies. Supporters claim ride-sharing services to be easy to use, good quality and safe, while opponents argue that government-backed compliance measures are in place for a reason and these illegal services undermine hardworking law-abiding taxi drivers.

The sharing economy is a relatively new phenomenon. It combines various ideas and technologies in order to provide new value to market participants who were previously excluded from the market or had limited access to it. At the same time, it increases competition resulting in lower prices, increases entrepreneurship and household incomes.

Italy is one of the first countries in Europe that has the major number of users and people aware of what is the so-called “sharing economy” (it is the third country after Turkey and Spain).

France is facing yet another challenge. The European Commission clearly stated that a restrictive regulatory approach that they have implemented must be avoided. A difficult road is ahead for the French government as it will have to admit that the country’s licensing practices are laughably outdated and have to be removed.

The emergence of the sharing economy shook things up in many sectors and within their regulatory frameworks. The greatest upheavals are currently being experienced by the taxi and accommodation services, since these are the services where the sharing economy has managed to compete with traditional service providers by (re-)employing idle capital.

We have the pleasure to present you the third round of 4discussion devoted to sharing economy. See what do Dita Charanzová, Kalle Palling, Marek Harbulak and Róbert Chovančuliak say on the topic and feel free to comment on that!