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Cited by 241Sharing Economy and PlatformsSustainable Supply Chain ManagementService and Product Innovation

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 129 of the 132 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Defining the Sharing Economy for Sustainability

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Curtis, Steven Kane, Lehner, Matthias·2019·Sustainability
DOI 10.3390/su11030567
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Abstract

(1) Background: The sharing economy has emerged as a phenomenon widely described by academic literature to promote more sustainable consumption practices such as access over ownership. However, there exists great semantic confusion within academic literature surrounding the term “sharing economy,” which threatens the realisation of its purported sustainability potential. (2) Objective: The aim of this paper is to synthesise the existing academic definitions and propose a definition of the sharing economy from the perspective of sustainability science in order to indicate sharing practices that are consistent with the sustainability claims attributed to the sharing economy. (3) Methods: We conduct a database search to collect relevant academic articles. Then, we leverage qualitative content analysis in order to analyse the authors’ definitions and to synthesise the broad dimensions of the sharing economy in the discourse. (4) Results: We propose the following characteristics, or semantic properties, of the sharing economy for sustainability: ICT-mediated, non-pecuniary motivation for ownership, temporary access, rivalrous and tangible goods. (5) Conclusion: The semantic properties that inform our definition of the sharing economy for sustainability indicate those sharing practices that promote sustainable consumption compared to purely market-based exchanges. This definition is relevant for academics studying the sustainability impacts of the sharing economy in order to promote comparability and compatibility in research. Furthermore, the definition is useful for policy-makers, entrepreneurs, managers and consumers that have the sharing economy on the agenda in order to promote social enterprise and support sustainable consumption.

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Research works printed but not linked: 8

  1. Ukolov, 2016, Food-Sharing Economy Pattern Comparison in UK and Russian Markets, Int. Bus. Manag., 10, 4268
  2. Corbin, J., and Strauss, A. (2015). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory, SAGE.
  3. Bazeley, P., and Jackson, K. (2013). Qualitative Data Analysis with NVivo, SAGE.
  4. Weitzman, M.L. (1984). The Share Economy: Conquering Stagflation, Harvard University Press.
  5. Miles, M.B., Huberman, A.M., and Saldana, J. (2013). Qualitative Data Analysis, SAGE.
  6. Posen, 2015, Ridesharing in the Sharing Economy: Should Regulators Impose Uber Regulations on Uber Notes, Iowa Law Rev., 101, 405
  7. Choi, 2014, The Business Model for the Sharing Economy between SMEs, WSEAS Trans. Bus. Econ., 11, 625
  8. Glynos, J., Howarth, D., Norval, A., and Speed, E. (2009). ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Review Paper, National Centre for Research Methods.

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Metadata

Authors
Curtis, S. K., & Lehner, M.
Affiliations
Lund University (SE)
Corresponding author
Curtis, Steven Kane
ORCID
Venue
Sustainability
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2019-01-22
Volume
11
Issue
3
Pages
567
ISSN
2071-1050 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/su11030567
OpenAlex
W2912057599
Cited by
241
References
132
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 12
FWCI
42.31
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Sustainability (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • European Research Council (771872)
  • Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RIK16-1055:1)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Sharing Economy and Platforms
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Sustainable Supply Chain Management
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Service and Product Innovation
Keywords
sharing economy, sustainable consumption, semantic features, temporary access, social enterprises, sustainability science

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