Joseph Schumpeter an Austrian-born American political economist predicted that competition from newer commodity, newer technology, newer source of supply, and newer type of organizations would be more relevant than perfect competition. He explained this as competition which “strikes not at the margins of the profits and the outputs of the existing firms but at their foundations and their very lives.”

 His foretelling has positively come true! The sharing economy is peer-to-peer based activity where users are sharing access to goods and services – have become an undividable part of world economy.

Dhaka city dwellers have become familiar with the term ‘sharing economy’ mostly through ride-sharing applications in recent times. It has become a common picture to see people of all ages hailing an Uber or Pathao apps to get them across in Dhaka. The fast escalation of ride-sharing services coincided with the poor service quality of existing services and the abundance of smartphones across various segments of age and income in Dhaka. Sharing assets is not limited to the capital only but expanding its market in some other areas also like Chittagong and Sylhet in Bangladesh.

Researchers in different parts of the world indicated that economics, not attitude, is driving the sharing economy. Popularity of sharing economy is commonly attributed to the culture or ideology. It’s understood that millennials don’t want to be fascinated by houses, cars and other expensive belongings or that they believe sharing is good for the environment. If we deeply observe the Bangladesh market then it would be clear that both consumers and providers, work together to build an in-depth understanding of the dynamics which are driving the growth of the sharing economy.

Consumers’ preferring sharing services because they find it provides better economic value. Consumers/users know what they are getting and can trust the services because of ratings and reviews. When talked to university students they cited diversity, access to better services, and ability to have a unique experience especially. On the other hand, who don’t use sharing services; they’ve cited two main reasons: they enjoy the convenience of ownership and have doubts about the reliability of sharing platforms.

However, the sharing economy already became a significant part and it will inevitably become a major part of the global economy in future days. The growth of sharing economy is estimated to rise from 14 billion USD in 2014 to 335 billion  USD by 2025 globally.

The world is observing the rise and penetration of the sharing economy accelerated by the growing digital platform and interest of users to try mobile apps that make easy peer-to-peer business models.

We are now moving from the 20th-century model where the corporation accumulates resources and produces goods and services toward the 21st-century model where we can gain certain platforms. Sharing economies allow individuals and groups to make money from underutilized assets.

We are moving toward an economy where physical assets are shared as services. People have shown a robust appetite for all ranges of services provided by sharing economy in hospitality and dining, automotive and transportation, labor, delivery, short-term loans, and retail and consumer goods. In the future, this crowd-based capitalism model is expected to penetrate into many sectors.

More ventures are about to be introduced in the world soon. The government has a big responsibility in the escalation of sharing economy in the country. Role of regulations in the sharing economy should be to lower barriers for making entries for startups.

Recently, the government has taken a significant decision on app-based ride-sharing services in Bangladesh. The government should make the country friendly to sharing economy ventures where companies can build trust with regulators and lead to a great future through the escalation of sharing economy in the country.

https://www.observerbd.com/details.php?id=123517#sthash.NqdWZzsR.gbpl