Mises Wire

Writing for Entrepreneur, Dr. Per Bylund outlines "3 Ways the Sharing Economy Changes Entrepreneurial Opportunity."

The purpose of any market is to find and create new resources to satisfy consumer needs. Innovation increases over the years allow companies to achieve better results using fewer resources. Industrialization pushed this process to new heights, and today’s information age promises another leap in this process of economic resource creation.

Recently, this process has given rise to the sharing economy, with startups exemplified by Uber and Airbnb muddling the distinction between production and consumption. Detractors dismiss this model as primarily consumptive and argue against its staying power, but the sharing economy is much more than that.

In truth, the sharing model is the creation of economic resources through releasing and making available private assets that used to sit idle. Uber accomplishes this by making private cars available to the public for transportation. Airbnb makes private dwellings available for short-term houses. The result is greater resource utilization and expanded earning potential for anyone willing to share his idle resources.

In my research into the role of entrepreneurship in economic growth, I’ve seen how the sharing economy is poised to transform — and, in many ways, is already transforming — how we look at business creation. The growth of the sharing economy fundamentally changes the landscape for entrepreneurs in three primary areas:

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