Municipal Governance of the Sharing Economy: Global Insights
Source: Voytenko Palgan, Y. and Mont, O. (forthcoming). Municipal Governance of the Sharing Economy Sectors: Global Insights.
Sharing and the City researcher Yuliya Voytenko Palgan presented her latest study “Municipal Governance of the Sharing Economy: Global Insights” done together with Prof. Oksana Mont at the 7th International Workshop on the Sharing Economy (7IWSE), which was organised virtually on 24-27 February 2021 by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Barcelona, Spain, in collaboration with the Dimmons research group.
Lately, municipalities have been facing multiple socio-economic and environmental challenges brought about by the sharing economy. The emerging research on municipal governance of the sharing economy provides a broad overview of examples for how municipalities address these challenges by regulating the sharing economy, while leaving out other potential municipal governance mechanisms and roles. Earlier Yuliya’s research identified a need to systematically “explore the differences in the governance approaches, strategies, instruments, mechanisms and roles chosen by various municipalities in relation to the sharing economy in general, its specific segments (e.g. sharing of accommodation, mobility or physical goods), and different types of sharing economy organisations” (Voytenko Palgan et al. 2021).
The paper presented at the 7IWSE addresses this research need as it aims to deliver a cross case and cross-sectoral comparative analysis of municipal governance of the sharing economy in eight global cities. Building on the interdisciplinary research stream on ‘sharing cities’ as well as literature on urban policy and planning, and municipal governance of the sharing economy, Yuliya and Oksana analyse and compare municipal governance approaches in Amsterdam, Berlin, Gothenburg, London, Malmö, San Francisco, Shanghai and Toronto. Empirical evidence for these case studies is collected through a mixed-method approach comprising a literature review of academic and grey literature, 170 semi-structured interviews with sharing economy actors, eight mobile research labs, seven participant observation workshops and three focus groups with sharing economy users.
The researchers analysed this data using the comprehensive analytical framework of municipal governance of the sharing economy that comprises five governance mechanisms and 11 governance roles (Voytenko Palgan et al. 2021). They discussed and unpacked the reasons behind the differences in municipal governance of the sharing economy across cities and sectors. Specifically, this paper contributes with a tentative framework for classifying the contextual factors influencing the diverse responses and engagements of municipal governments with sharing economy organisations. The paper is currently under review in an international peer-reviewed journal.
The presentation has been well-received and triggered a lively discussion. In particular, several future research directions have been identified. For example, future studies could explore in depth one or a few governance mechanisms and roles and compare them across several cities. Another future research direction could focus on the temporal aspect of governance mechanisms and roles by analysing the evolution of those and seeking for explanations why certain ways of governing have been exercised in different cities at certain points in time.