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Does Country Level Social Trust Predict the Size of the Sharing Economy?

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Listed:
  • Bergh, Andreas

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Funcke, Alexander

    (Philosophy, Politics & Economics)

Abstract

The sharing economy (peer-to-peer based sharing or renting activities coordinated through community-based online services) is typically assumed to be closely related to social trust. The two sharing economy companies Airbnb and Flipkey exist in over 100 countries, allowing us to construct a measure of sharing economy penetration to test against social trust and other potential explanations. Results indicate that sharing economy penetration is promoted by ICT-infrastructure and economic openness, whereas the correlation with social trust is negative and often statistically significant. Our conclusion is that sharing economy services do not require high levels of social trust to succeed. Rather, they provide institutions that facilitate trust-intensive economic activities also where social trust is low.

Suggested Citation

  • Bergh, Andreas & Funcke, Alexander, 2016. "Does Country Level Social Trust Predict the Size of the Sharing Economy?," Working Paper Series 1130, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1130
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2010. "Inherited Trust and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(5), pages 2060-2092, December.
    2. Apostolos Filippas & John J. Horton & Richard J. Zeckhauser, 2020. "Owning, Using, and Renting: Some Simple Economics of the “Sharing Economy”," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 4152-4172, September.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/432sbils8u9t7qa99cii5psht1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Berggren, Niclas & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2011. "Is the importance of religion in daily life related to social trust? Cross-country and cross-state comparisons," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 459-480.
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    6. Gordon Tullock, 1985. "Adam Smith and the Prisoners' Dilemma," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 100(Supplemen), pages 1073-1081.
    7. Andreas Bergh & Christian Bjørnskov, 2011. "Historical Trust Levels Predict the Current Size of the Welfare State," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(1), pages 1-19, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Takashi Majima & Per Fors & Yu Inutsuka & Yohko Orito, 2021. "Is the Meaning of the “Sharing Economy” Shared Among Us? Comparing the Perspectives of Japanese and Swedish Researchers," The Review of Socionetwork Strategies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 87-106, June.
    2. Wei Yin & Berna Kirkulak-Uludag & Ziling Chen, 2021. "Is the Sharing Economy Green? Evidence from Cross-Country Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Katarzyna Bentkowska, 2021. "Formal and Informal Institutions’ Changes in the Sharing Economy Development," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 1), pages 362-375.
    4. R. Basselier & G. Langenus & L. Walravens, 2018. "The rise of the sharing economy," Economic Review, National Bank of Belgium, issue iii, pages 57-78, september.
    5. repec:nbb:ecrart:y:2017:m:september:i:iii:p:57-78 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sharing economy; Trust; Information technology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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