Sharing economy: the basics of market relations in new economic reality

Abstract

The article examines the features of the behavioral and business model of joint consumption and its impact on the market. The subject of the study is the transformation of commoditymonetary relations occurring in the sharing economy. Global expansion of joint consumption in the world and its growing popularity in Russia, alongside the lack of relevant studies in Russian literature determines the relevance of the work. In order to study economic nature and market foundations of sharing economy, the authors apply an interdisciplinary approach as well as general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis and modeling. To assess the viability of this model in the face of new challenges, methods of statistical data analysis and expert assessments are used. The authors argue that the basis of sharing economy is a rationalistic model of individual’s behavior who refuses to own excess property in favor of temporary access to the good to save resources and maximize utility. The basic principles of sharing economy (rationality, efficiency, profitability, urgency and trust), as well as specific interaction of its participants, have an impact on commodity-monetary relations, leading to the transformation of market fundamentals: a change in private property paradigm, a shift in subjective foundations of the market and in the standard exchange scheme, a partial removal of market «failures». Recent challenges provide a real test of sharing economy, and demonstrate high adaptive abilities, which allows us to look positively at the future of a new consumption model and opens interesting areas for further research