Ethics of the Sharing Economy: The Example of Reward- and Equity-Based Crowdfunding

The sharing economy may be an opportunity to respond to real societal needs through the mutualization of resources and to encourage new communities through the democratization of power. Mutualization and democratization do not guarantee the ethical nature of this movement. Our research question is under what conditions the sharing economy can present the ethical dimensions highlighted by sharing-related literature. To answer that question, we explore the theoretical and empirical context of crowdfunding (CF) and focus on the comparative analysis of five reward- and equity-based CF platforms. This study emphasizes the conditions needed for ethical CF and, more generally, for an ethical sharing economy: the possibility to give gratuitously; the pursuit of a societal purpose; cooperation within and between groups of actors; long-term stability of spaces and times dedicated to cooperation; virtual and possibly physical arenas of cooperation; and people dedicated to cooperation.