THE UBERISATION OF SOCIETY: Is uberisation part of the sharing economy?

Before reading :
How do you translate the expression “sharing economy”?
How would you define this notion?

Document 1
Uber, Airbnb Lead the Way as Sharing Economy Expands
56.5 million people will use a sharing economy service this year
Jasmine Enberg, June 30, 2017

As trust and familiarity with sharing economy services continues to

grow, so too will the number of users.

According to eMarketer’s latest estimates, over a quarter (26.0%) of

US adult internet users—or 56.5 million people—will use a sharing
economy service at least once in 2017. This is a higher figure than
previously projected due to stronger-than-expected uptake of both
ride- and home-sharing services.

eMarketer’s definition of the sharing economy includes

community-based online services that coordinate property,
goods and services. It excludes crowdsourcing, group buying,
incorporated professional services and online marketplaces like eBay.

For the first time, eMarketer’s forecast includes estimates for two of
the most popular sharing economy services: Airbnb and Uber.

This year, 16.9% of US adult internet users are expected to use their
Airbnb account at least once, equating to 36.8 million people.

By comparison, 20.4% of US adult internet users, or 44.4 million

people, will book a ride on their Uber account at least once this year.
Among adult smartphone users, that figure will rise to 22.7%.

Trust is still one of the biggest barriers to sharing economy adoption,

particularly when it comes to lodging services. An April 2017 report
from Maru/Matchbox found that 31% of US consumers did not
consider home-sharing platforms like Airbnb to be safe, while 28%
said the same about ride-hailing services.

However, as consumers become more comfortable with the sharing

economy, the number of users will rise rapidly. Airbnb and Uber will
be the biggest drivers of growth, though other sharing economy
services will also gain users. This is especially true of the sharing
transportation sector, where alternative services like Lyft already
have notable traction.

What is eMarketer.com’s definition of “sharing economy”?

Grammaire / lexique

expext sb to +BV / be expected to

(just) as… so too: permet d’établir un parallélisme / une connection entre 2 situations ou actions. Difficile à traduire
littéralement; il faut en général reformuler (une structure du type “de la même façon que” est souvent maladroite).
ex: Just as the body needs regular exercise, so too an engine needs to be run at regular intervals.
Proposition de trad°: A l’image du moteur qu’il faut faire tourner à un rythme régulier, le corps a besoin d’exercices (tout aussi)
réguliers.
Document 2

STOP SAYING UBER IS PART OF THE SHARING ECONOMY

What is being shared besides your money?
By Toon Meelen And Koen Frenken

The sharing economy is a fast-growing phenomenon. People increasingly share their home, car, clothing or tools
on Internet platforms such as Airbnb, Relayrides, and Peerby. Along with its rapid growth, however, the sharing
economy has also come under fire. This criticism focuses in particular on the new taxi service UberX (or UberPOP
in Europe) that enables anyone to work as an “amateur driver.” Consumers benefit from lower prices, but regular
taxi drivers point to unfair competition and uninsured passengers. This controversy attracts plenty of attention to
the new industry, but the real question is: why do we think UberX is even really part of the sharing economy?

The controversy makes clear that it is ambiguous where the sharing economy begins and where it ends. Because
sharing has a positive and progressive connotation, more and more companies claim that they are part of the
sharing economy. However, an accurate definition of the sharing economy is consumers (or firms)
granting each other temporary access to their under-utilized physical assets (“idle capacity”), possibly for
money. With this definition in mind, it becomes clear that many companies falsely claim that they are part of the
sharing economy. (Note that our definition is more restricted than the one proposed by Rachel Botsman, who also
includes sharing of other “assets” such as skills and time.) Clarity about what the sharing economy entails is
important, especially now that both proponents and opponents worldwide are asking for clear regulations. […]

It is […] UberX, that spurred the most controversy. With this service, anyone can be a taxi driver, and drive people
from A to B without a taxi license. But UberX is only a form of the sharing economy if the driver would have made
the trip anyway. In that case, there has been some idle capacity utilized. After all, a car seat that would otherwise
have remained empty would then be in use. If, however, the driver only makes the trip to transport someone from
A to B, then this is a regular taxi service. As this most often is the case for UberX, it should be considered as just
a taxi app and not a form of the sharing economy.

Finally, Uber also recently initiated the service UberPool in San Francisco. UberPool allows multiple passengers to
share a taxi. In this case, passengers together make the same ride and a seat that would otherwise remain empty
is now utilized. This service, apart from the others, is a form of the sharing economy.

A similar confusion exists around Airbnb, the platform that allows people to rent out their home. If people do so
while staying temporarily elsewhere (vacation, business trip, family visit), their otherwise uninhabited house is now
being shared. If, by contrast, people live permanently in another house, and continuously rent out their own
house, they are actually just running a (often illegal) hotel. The first example is part of sharing economy, the
second is not. […]

Compare and contrast the two definitions of “sharing economy”. Which one is closer to your definition of
sharing?

Lexique
be under fire: être critiqué
idle capacity: capacité inutilisée (unused or under-utilized assets)
idle (adj): oisif, inactif
entail: impliquer, entraîner, causer
proponent: partisan, avocat, adepte / opponent: adversaire, concurrent, opposant, rival
spur: noun- poussée soudaine; verb- ici: susciter; éperonner, encourager, inciter

To go further:

Article anglophone qui fait la distinction entre “Collaborative Economy”, “Sharing Economy”,
“Collaborative Consumption”, “On-Demand Services”.
https://www.fastcompany.com/3046119/defining-the-sharing-economy-what-is-collaborative-
consumption-and-what-isnt

Video: Collaborative consumption or the sharing economy explained in 4 minutes!

https://youtu.be/79hQ-4yTR2c