Books
The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism
— June 14, 2016

By Arun Sundararajan
By Arun Sundararajan
Drawing on extensive research and numerous real-world examples -- including Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, Etsy, TaskRabbit, France's BlaBlaCar, China's Didi Kuaidi and India's Ola, Professor Sundararajan explains the basics of crowd-based capitalism. He describes the intriguing mix of "gift" and "market" in its transactions, demystifies emerging blockchain technologies and clarifies the dizzying array of emerging on-demand platforms. He considers how this new paradigm changes economic growth and the future of work. Will we live in a world of empowered entrepreneurs who enjoy professional flexibility and independence? Or will we become disenfranchised digital laborers scurrying between platforms in search of the next wedge of piecework? Professor Sundararajan highlights the important policy choices and suggests possible new directions for self-regulatory organizations, labor law and funding our social safety net.