Knowledge Agora



Similar Articles

Title Sharing for a circular economy? an analysis of digital sharing platforms' principles and business models
ID_Doc 28182
Authors Schwanholz, J; Leipold, S
Title Sharing for a circular economy? an analysis of digital sharing platforms' principles and business models
Year 2020
Published
Abstract Circular economy policies are on the rise globally. Several studies point to a large potential of digitalization and sharing practices for realizing a circular economy. Yet, little empirical evidence is available on the aims, self-perceptions and business models of sharing-practice providers. This study scrutinizes the providers' view on their practices, analyzing circular economy principles and goals as well as sharing business models of 73 German-speaking digital sharing platforms. Our results show that all digital sharing platforms identify strongly with the circular economy while tending towards a limited number of principles, goals and profit-oriented business models. We develop a typology of digital sharing platforms' orientation, including (1) social interaction, (2) profit and sustainability, and (3) mixed goals and business models. Our typology complements evolving theoretical frameworks and categorizations of (digital) sharing practices with a stakeholder-based perspective. For the first time, we relate mixed scholarly expectations about digital sharing platforms with mixed real-world motivations and business models across many sectors. These findings could help to pave the way for the nascent research on the role of digitalization for sharing practices. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
PDF

Similar Articles

ID Score Article
6101 He, L; Sopjani, L; Laurenti, R User participation dilemmas in the circular economy: An empirical study of Scandinavia's largest peer-to-peer product sharing platform(2021)
3930 Henry, M; Schraven, D; Bocken, N; Frenken, K; Hekkert, M; Kirchherr, J The battle of the buzzwords: A comparative review of the circular economy and the sharing economy concepts(2021)
1161 Pouri, MJ; Hilty, LM Digitally Enabled Sharing and the Circular Economy: Towards a Framework for Sustainability Assessment(2020)
2816 Sposato, P; Preka, R; Cappellaro, F; Cutaia, L Sharing Economy And Circular Economy. How Technology And Collaborative Consumption Innovations Boost Closing The Loop Strategies(2017)Environmental Engineering And Management Journal, 16, 8
6786 Frenken, K Political economies and environmental futures for the sharing economy(2017)Philosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society A-Mathematical Physical And Engineering Sciences, 375, 2095
Scroll