Does the sharing economy increase inequality within the eighty percent?: findings from a qualitative study of platform providers

Juliet B. Schor

320 citations0/0 files storedCambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society

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Digital Economy and Work Transformation Labor market dynamics and wage inequality Sharing Economy and Platforms

Abstract

The sharing economy has generated controversy for its effects on labour conditions, wages and the distributions of income and wealth. In this article, we present evidence for a previously unrecognized effect: increased income inequality among the bottom 80% of the distribution. On the basis of interviews with US providers on three for-profit platforms (Airbnb, RelayRides and TaskRabbit), we find that providers are highly educated and many have well-paying full-time jobs. They use the platforms to augment their incomes. Furthermore, many are engaging in manual labour, including cleaning, moving and other tasks that are traditionally done by workers with low educational attainment, suggesting a crowding-out effect.

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References

2017The Wealth of Networks 20258 The Precariat The New Dangerous Class?2012Access-Based Consumption: The Case of Car Sharing: Table 1.2016Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data *2015Collaborative consumption: determinants of satisfaction and the likelihood of using a sharing economy option again 2010What's Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption 2014Inequality in the long run 2014The zero marginal cost society: the Internet of things, the collaborative commons, and the eclipse of capitalism

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