European Perspectives on Power in the Sharing Economy

Abstract

This report, ‘European Perspectives on Power in the Sharing Economy’, forms one element of a European Union Horizon 2020 Research Project on the sharing economy: Ps2Share ‘Participation, Privacy, and Power in the Sharing Economy’. Within the survey and in the following report, we addressed various items towards four distinct sub-categories of Europeans (N=6111): Consumers, Providers, Aware Non-Users, and Non-Aware Non-Users. To present a more fine-grained overview of the perceived power-dynamics, we also provide deeper insights into the results on a cross-country level, as well as analyzing demographic and platform differences. The first section of the report focuses on the Peer-to-Peer Relationships which form the foundation of the sharing economy. Aspects covered in this section include emotional labor, perceived interpersonal treatment, and feedback systems. The second section of the report focuses on the Peer-to-Platform Relationships. This section addresses the role of the sharing platforms in establishing and maintaining power asymmetries, covering aspects such as dispute resolution mechanisms, terms and conditions, pricing, algorithmic control, and collective action. The final section provides a more macro-approach to power dynamics, focusing on the Platform-to-Society Relationships. This includes elements such as regulation and platform narratives.

Keywords: Sharing Economy, Power, Regulation, Algorithms, Voice, Bargaining Power, Policy, Uber, Airbnb, Information Asymmetry, Peer-to-Peer, Europe, EU, Report, Survey, Quantitative