Crowd-based capitalism? Empowering entrepreneurs in the sharing economy

In a recent blog in the Washington Post, Arun Sundararajan, professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, explains why he is so gung-ho about the sharing economy. In an interview, Sundararajan talks about the challenges of ensuring the success of this alternative business model. Sundararajan says the sharing economy, which is sometimes called the collaborative economy or the on-demand economy, started out as a way for consumers to pay to temporarily access or share products and services rather than buying or owning them. Today, its really a broad and emerging economic system with five characteristics. One is that its market-based, meaning that there is some sort of digitally enabled market that enables the exchange of goods and the emergence of new services. Uber and Airbnb are good examples. One is a peer-to-peer marketplace providing transportation, and the other is a marketplace for short-term accommodation. The sharing economy is also characterized by the blurring of lines between what used to be personal and what used to be professional.