Guest editorial

Citation

Gupta, S.K., Gupta, S. and Sivarajah, U. (2021), "Guest editorial", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-01-2021-290

Sharing economy: pathway to sustainability

In recent times, the challenges of climate change and increasing price of resources have promoted enterprises based on the philosophy of sharing economy having deep impression of information and communication technology, economy of scale, stakeholders' participation and sustainable consumption. Beyond the focus on environmental protection and regulation, the concept of sharing economy has provided a new conceptual framework to handle complex, interlinked economic, social and environmental developments (Heinrichs, 2013). The literature shows transdisciplinary and transformative research and development in concrete areas of the sharing economy such as housing, mobility or transport, machine tool use, public spaces, etc., to support the expansion of the sharing economy (Ayoo, 2007; Galvão et al., 2017; Yao et al., 2019).

People in the present-day have started considering collaborative consumption as equivalent to sharing economy, actually referring to a resource-exchanging medium (community-based online services), wherein a consumer can also act as a seller of products and services; in other words, a hybrid market model of peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions (Belk, 2014). The collaborative consumption model being highly related to sharing economy (Hamari et al., 2016) and has evolved into cooperative system for the greening of industrial infrastructures (Yang and Song, 2009). However, some critics think that the name is not suitable; it should rather be “Access Economy” pointing to the fact that when there is a mediator between people who do not know each other, it disrupts the concept of sharing, where we are just paying to access other person's goods and/or services (Schor, 2016). This virtual market has added advantage of accessing the customer regardless of time, place and contract customizations (Schor and Fitzmaurice, 2015).

The increasing environmental awareness among consumers, Internet boom and in-hand technology, along with surplus of goods produced from idle capacity, etc. have enabled them to utilize goods and services that have generally been underutilized (Rong et al., 2018). In addition, the mentality of people has also changed; in the present-day, they do not use these services and/or products just for social interaction, but for taking full advantage of the same for the better and at lower costs with lesser carbon footprint. However, to run these businesses successfully lot of cooperation of local governments is expected (Górka and Szyja, 2015). It is expected that, in future, a green growth sharing mechanism would help in design of a sustainable ecosystem (Song et al., 2020). This special issue on “Sharing economy: Pathway to Sustainability” hopes to advance knowledge in the field of sharing economy to meet current and future challenges to ensure sustainable living of the society.

The first paper titled “Sharing Rides and Strides toward Sustainability: An Investigation of Carpooling in an Emerging Market” is a contemporary one. The paper advocates sustainable transport system to cope with the increasing demand of urban population. The study provides deep insights toward managerial implications and theoretical contributions as well.

The next paper titled “Understanding the Impact of Lifestyle on Sustainable Consumption Behavior: A Sharing Economy Perspective” is contextualized in the Indian context. This study describes lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) tendency and the effects of such lifestyles on the behavioral intentions for sustainable consumption in sharing economy.

The third paper titled “Driving Forces of Green Consumption in Sharing Economy” is very relevant in the present-day context. The findings of this study revealed that nostalgia positively influences social connectedness and past orientation, whereas social connectedness and past orientation accelerate green consumption. However, it was confirmed that nostalgia decreases green consumption.

The fourth paper titled “Issues and Challenges in Implementing Sharing Economy in Tourism: A Triangulation Study” highlights issues and challenges in implementing and adopting the sharing economy concept in tourism. The paper has sound theoretical contributions and managerial implications.

The next paper is titled as “Addressing the challenges for electric vehicle adoption via sharing economy approach: An Indian perspective”. The study looks into the measures taken by the Government of India (GOI) to promote research and development in EV sector and what is yet to be done. This study assists GOI and various stakeholders in having a realistic plan, rather than daydreaming with overambitious goals.

The sixth paper titled “Selection of sustainable transport system: A case study” is contextualized in the Indian context. The paper found that CO₂ emission is the most important criterion for a sustainable transport system, followed by a reduction in congestion and the number of injuries.

The seventh paper titled “Sharing economy approach for the development of the organic food market in India” is completely contextualized in an emerging economy. The paper stressed that by sharing resources, skills and spaces, organic farmers markets have increased organic food availability, reduced its cost of certification and operation besides managing consumer trust.

The last paper titled “Transformation of do it yourself from altruistic to utilitarian tendency: DIY entrepreneurs and sustainable practices in shared economy market conditions” is a contemporary one. This paper has argued well about the key practical challenges and offered relevant solutions as well.

I hope that the readers – academics, practitioners, policymakers and the likes – will like this special issue.