Faculty News
Professor Arun Sundararajan Participates in a Panel on the Sharing Economy at the World Economic Forum’s 2015 Annual Meeting of the New Champions
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We start to blur the lines between personal and professional in the provision of commercial services.
On September 9, 10 and 11, Professor Arun Sundararajan attended the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions (‘Summer Davos’) in Dalian, China. Professor Sundararajan participated in a session on “The Rise of the On-Demand Economy” along with panelists including Nathan Blecharczyk, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Airbnb; Cheng Wei, Founder, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Didi Kuaidi; and Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork, and moderated by former BBC broadcaster Nik Gowing. The panel explored the evolution of the on-demand economy and its impact on industries, workers and consumers.
Specifically, Professor Sundararajan outlined how on-demand and sharing models created new ways of organizing economic activity that he terms crowd-based capitalism: “The crowd becomes the source of supply. The peer-to-peer platform becomes the conduit for fulfilling demand. We start to blur the lines between personal and professional in the provision of commercial services…We are increasing the impact of capital and labor…But along the way, what ends up happening is that we redefine what it means to have a job.” He also outlined generational shifts that accompanied this transition, and discussed policy choices that would shape whether our economy of the future comprised empowered micro-entrepreneurs or disenfranchised workers.
Watch Professor Sundararajan’s briefing session on the market dynamics underpinning the rise of the sharing economy:
Watch the full “The Rise of the On-Demand Economy” panel:
Specifically, Professor Sundararajan outlined how on-demand and sharing models created new ways of organizing economic activity that he terms crowd-based capitalism: “The crowd becomes the source of supply. The peer-to-peer platform becomes the conduit for fulfilling demand. We start to blur the lines between personal and professional in the provision of commercial services…We are increasing the impact of capital and labor…But along the way, what ends up happening is that we redefine what it means to have a job.” He also outlined generational shifts that accompanied this transition, and discussed policy choices that would shape whether our economy of the future comprised empowered micro-entrepreneurs or disenfranchised workers.
Watch Professor Sundararajan’s briefing session on the market dynamics underpinning the rise of the sharing economy:
Watch the full “The Rise of the On-Demand Economy” panel: