“Sharing Economy” Reshapes Markets

By Rob Lever

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W ant to make a bit of extra cash driving strangers around in your car, taking care of someone’s dog, renting your apartment or cooking a meal?Welcome to the sharing economy.

With Internet-based apps and services like Uber, Airbnb and others,1Uber： 一个提供私家车打车服务的应用程序； Airbnb： 是一个旅行房屋租赁网站，用户可通过网络或手机应用程序发布、搜索度假房屋租赁信息并完成在线预订。you make money, and the consumer saves. So it’s a win-win? That’s the multibillion-dollar question.

The new way of operating has been reshaping entire economic sectors, with the promise2promise： （有）可能，（有）希望。of improved efficiency and more flexibility.

The spectacular rise of ride-sharing, home-sharing and other services turned these economic models upside down, and has fueled complaints that these services effectively skirt rules on safety, consumer protection and labor rights.3“合乘”和“合居”以及其他类似服务的神速发展颠覆了这些经济模式，同时引发了就此类服务规避了有关安全、消费者保护和劳动者权益方面的法规的投诉。spectacular： 壮观的，惊人的；fuel： 激起；skirt： 绕过，回避。

想通过用私家车搭载路人来赚些零花钱吗？想利用空闲时间临时照管他人的宠物来补贴家用吗？不仅是出租房屋和车辆，人们试图出租的还包括办公场所、电钻、割草机等闲置资产。人们甚至还出售自己的时间，做一些送取物品或组装家具的杂活。近年来，这股“分享经济”的浪潮早已席卷美国。出门不住酒店，而是通过Airbnb预订或出租闲置的房屋；出行不开车，而是通过Uber订一辆出租车。

Some economists say this “peer-to-peer” model offers numerous advantages by tapping underutilized resources.4peer-to-peer： 个人对个人；tap： 开发，挖掘；underutilized： 未充分利用的。

The sharing economy “can improve consumer welfare by offering new innovations, more choices, more service differentiation,5consumer welfare： 消费者福利；service differentiation： 服务差异化。better prices and higher quality services,” says a study by George Mason University economists.

Researcher Christopher Koopman, an author of the George Mason report, said the sharing economy “allows people to take idle capital and turn them into revenue sources.”6idle： 闲置的；capital： 资本；revenue： 收益。

“People are taking spare bedroom, cars, tools they are not using and becoming their own entrepreneurs7entrepreneur： 企业家，中间商。.”

There is no of ficial de finition of the sharing economy. Some include online delivery services like Instacart and Postmates; neighbor-sharing platforms like Peerby; pet-sitting service DogVacay; and the restroom service Airpnp.8Instacart： 一个移动购物平台，可提供商品“一小时送达”服务；Postmates：一家在线按需快递服务公司，可提供快速、高效的商品送货上门服务；Peerby： 一个与邻居分享闲置物品的平台，让东西物尽其用；pet-sitting：照看宠物；DogVacay： 一款为自家的宠物犬寻找短期寄养、看护等服务的应用；Airpnp： 一款解决如厕难题的应用，能让用户把自家厕所提供给内急的人，同时赚取零钱。

The research firm PwC estimates that five sharing economy segments— finance, online staf fing, accommodation, car sharing and music or video streaming9PwC： 全称为Price waterhouse Coopers，普华永道会计师事务所，全球顶级的会计师事务所之一；online staf fing： 在线人员配置；accomodation：（度假或旅行时的）住处；music or video streaming： 音乐流或视频数据流。—could be worth $335 billion by 2025, up from just $15 billion today.

“The sharing economy will be part of the overall economy going forward,” said technology strategist Mary Jesse in a blog post.10strategist： 战略家；blog post： 博客帖子。

“Some industries—like taxi services in transportation and B&B rentals in travel—will be completely transformed, while others, such as financial services, will be only peripherally impacted.11B&B rental： Bed and Breakfast，简称B&B，是国外的一种经济型酒店，B&B rental指经济型酒店租赁；peripherally：次要地。This is part of the ‘technology revolution,’ as well as a new norm12norm： 标准，规范。.”

Arun Sundararajan, a New York University economist who studies the sharing economy, told a January congressional hearing that “this transition will have a positive impact on economic growth and welfare, by stimulating new consumption, by raising productivity, and by catalyzing individual innovation and entrepreneurship.”13congressional hearing： 国会听证会；stimulate： 激励，鼓舞；catalyze： 刺激，催化；entrepreneurship： 创业。

Innovation or rule-bending14 rule-bending： 打破常规。?

Uber is the best known platform in the sharing economy, having reached a valuation of $40 billion while expanding to more than 200 cities in 54 countries.

But Uber and similar services like Lyft and Sidecar have fueled heated protests from taxi drivers, who complain that the new entrants don’t have to meet the same requirements for licensing, safety and insurance, making the competition unfair.15但是Uber和Lyft、Sidecar等同类服务使得出租车司机们的抗议升级，他们抱怨这些行业内新闯入的“不速之客”们在获得执照和安全性以及保险方面得到特别待遇，这使竞争变得不公平。new entrant： 新进入者。

Airbnb, the leading online platform for peer-to-peer lodging, has sparked similar complaints from the hotel sector.16lodging： 房屋出租；spark： 发动，引发。Responding to complaints, the San Francisco startup17startup： 创业，启动，这里指新创公司。recently expanded efforts to collect lodging taxes in some locations.

Other services in the sharing economy include “Feastly,”which allows individuals to cook meals for customers; Vinted,a marketplace for unwanted clothing; and Lending Club, one of several platforms for peer-to-peer loans.

Dean Baker, an economist of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, said these players can thrive largely because they don’t play by the same rules as incumbents.18thrive： 兴旺，旺盛； incumbent：现任者。

Jobs or not?

From the labor perspective, the new digital platforms are touted19be touted as： 被吹嘘成……。as ways to encourage more people to become entrepreneurs.

A study commissioned20commission： 委托做（某事）。by Uber and led by Princeton University economist Alan Kreugerwhich surveyed US drivers for Uber found they earned above-average wages and were generally satis fied with the arrangement.

The study found Uber drivers earned around $6 per hour more than traditional taxi drivers, but noted that comparison is dif ficult because Uber drivers must pay certain expenses.

Baker says this arrangement “is great for people to have an option to work in their spare time and make extra money,” but that it still lacks the bene fits of full-time employment.

“What happens when someone has an accident?Do they have workers’ insurance?” he said.

Baker said imposing regulations and costs on sharing economy firms could hurt their pro fitability but would level the playing field.21impose： 实施，推行；level the playing field： 创造平等竞争环境。

“These companies are going to have a choice where they have to get serious about accepting reasonable regulation or they will be chased out of22chase out of： 将……从……中赶出去。business,” he said.

Koopman argues however that “a lot of these regulations that have been on the books for decades are no longer serving consumer needs and are just protecting industries from competition.”

He maintains that as these activities grow, “there will be a new generation of people who are looking to the sharing economy both from the consumer and the producer side. And governments are ultimately23ultimately： 最后，最终。going to have to respond.”