The Sharing Economy: Who Really Benefits?

If you've ever used Uber to get a ride, Airbnb to get a place to stay, or TaskRabbit to get someone else to get your groceries, you're part of the sharing economy. These services allow people, independent of a company, to offer their services to others directly and make a profit by just sharing something that would have been otherwise unoccupied.

With the increase of use of these kinds of services, the question becomes, is it good for the economy? On one side of the argument, many believe that the sharing economy is just a novel way to pass on the risk a company would normally hold onto its customers and workers.

The Huffington Post described the effect when they reported the testimony of the Co-Director for the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker. He believed that the structure the US has already spent time and money to put in place to protect the workers, owners, and consumers will need to update itself to adjust to the requirements of a sharing economy.

"Many of these regulations serve important public purposes. If the sharing economy is used as a way to circumvent them, then it will impose substantial costs on society." 

There already have been disputes over how well these services work in today's society. Uber has come under fire in countries around the world over the legality and fairness in how they treat their customers and drivers, not to mention how the service affects the current taxi system of the city. Airbnb has faced conflict from hotel owners and lawmakers because their structure is like hotel system, but without the regulations.

Others see the need for regulation as a challenge as well, but a necessary one. Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar, a car-sharing service told Wharton how services can start implementing these kinds of rules. "...we should see to protect the public good, which includes safety, upholding workplace rules that matter, and making sure that social safety nets apply to all, regardless of whether they work full-time for one employer or not."

The opposing argument is that these services allow individuals to create income for themselves as entrepreneurs by utilizing assets they already have. This is what makes the sharing economy so special. Because, as Forbes wrote, "Traditionally, the largest barrier to entry into entrepreneurship for most small business owners is start-up capital."

Because so many people around the world enjoy making extra money, these arguments will continue, but most likely the "sharing economy" will only grow. Hopefully, as more administrators and lawmakers start to understand what kind of niche these services fill, eventually a balance will be found and then the question will become, what do I have to contribute to the sharing economy?