A Commons-compatible Implementation of the Sharing Economy: Blockchain-based Open Source Mediation

Petra Unterberger*, Manfred Mayer, Maximilian E. Tschuchnig, Peter Haber

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

The network economical sharing economy, with direct exchange as a core characteristic, is implemented both, on a commons and platform economical basis. This is due to a gain in importance of trust, collaborative consumption and democratic management as well as technological progress, in the form of near zero marginal costs, open source contributions and digital transformation. Concurrent to these commons-based drivers, the grey area between commerce and private exchange is used to exploit work, safety and tax regulations by central platform economists. Instead of central intermediators, the blockchain technology makes decentralized consensus finding, using Proof-of-Work (PoW) within a self-sustaining Peer-to-Peer network, possible. Therefore, a blockchain-based open source mediation seems to offer a commons-compatible implementation of the sharing economy. This thesis is investigated through a qualitative case study of Sardex and Interlace with their blockchain application, based on expert interviews and a structured content analysis. To detect the most commons-compatible implementation, the different implementation options through conventional platform intermediators, an open source blockchain with PoW as well as Interlaces’ permissioned blockchain approach, are compared. The following confrontation is based on deductive criteria, which illustrates the inherent characteristics of a commons-based sharing economy.
Original languageEnglish
Pages72-79
Number of pages8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2020
Externally publishedYes
Event2nd International Conference on Finance, Economics, Management and IT Business -
Duration: 5 May 20206 May 2020

Conference

Conference2nd International Conference on Finance, Economics, Management and IT Business
Abbreviated titleFEMIB 2020
Period5/05/206/05/20

Keywords

  • Sharing Economy
  • Blockchain
  • Commons
  • Platform Economy
  • Network Economy

Fields of Science and Technology Classification 2012

  • 502 Economics

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