The Sharing Economy: Its Pitfalls and Promises

By Michael C Munger and Michael C. Munger Duke University

Transactions have always taken place. For hundreds of years that 'place' was a market or, more recently, a shopping mall. But in the past two decades these physical locations have increasingly been replaced by their virtual counterparts - online platforms. Here, author Michael C. Munger demonstrates how these platforms act as matchmakers or middlemen, a role traders have adopted since the very first exchanges thousands of years ago. The difference today is that the matchmakers often play no direct part in buying or selling anything - they just help buyers and sellers find each other. Their major contribution has been to reduce the costs of organising and completing purchases, rentals or exchanges. The Sharing Economy: Its Pitfalls and Promises contends that the key role of online platforms is to create reductions in transaction costs and it highlights the importance of three 'Ts' - triangulation, transfer and trust - in bringing down those costs.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0255367910
• ISBN13: 9780255367912
• Release Date: September 2021
• Publisher: Iea
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"