Sharing Economy as a New Form of Consumer Cooperation in the Digital Age

Abstract

The paper aims to study the sharing economy as a new form of consumer cooperation in the conditions of digitalization from the perspective of its contribution to the welfare of society and the prospects of management in various economic systems. In order to determine the effects of the sharing economy on social well-being, the authors analyzed its effect on the happiness index using regression and correlation analysis. To establish the factors of development of the sharing economy, the authors determined its regression dependence on the level of education, availability and active use of ICTs, and informatization of society. The prospects for developing the sharing economy are identified by the simplex method based on the obtained regression models. The paper shows that in modern economic systems, the impact of the sharing economy on social welfare is highly differentiated—from clearly negative to steadily positive. In the low 10 countries on the level of sharing economy, its development contributes to increasing the population’s happiness. Therefore, the recommendations for the development of the sharing economy are formulated. In the top 10 countries on the level of the sharing economy, its further development is impractical because it reduces the level of happiness in society. The results demonstrated the ambiguity of the sharing economy as a new form of consumer cooperation in the context of digitalization and the need for its flexible regulation in each particular economic system.