{"id":38145,"date":"2023-10-20T14:54:30","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/in-love-with-uber-and-airbnb-you-might-have-disruption-fever-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:54:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:54:30","slug":"in-love-with-uber-and-airbnb-you-might-have-disruption-fever-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/in-love-with-uber-and-airbnb-you-might-have-disruption-fever-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"In love with Uber and Airbnb? You might have \u2018disruption fever\u2019 &#8211; StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"445\" height=\"352\" itemprop=\"image\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/l_sharing445.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"l_sharing445\"\/><\/div>\n<p>The Labor Party\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/billshorten.com.au\/the-sharing-economy-needs-to-strike-the-right-balance-of-freedom-and-regulation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">guidelines on the \u201csharing economy\u201d<\/a>, released last week, are a positive development for those concerned with the unfettered growth of businesses like Uber, Airbnb and others in the so-called \u201ccollaborative economy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Concern had centred on the propensity of these platform-based businesses to operate with scant regard for existing legal frameworks and industry norms \u2013- as typified by Uber\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/uber-vs-regulators-the-heavyweight-bout-of-2015-45932\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">global assault<\/a> on any regulatory barrier it perceives as inhibiting its freedom to operate or expand.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some herald this \u201cdisruption\u201d as necessary progress that allows the new economy to prosper to the advantage of consumers. Others question the nature of that progress and the implicit assumption that it provides net benefits to the community. Labor\u2019s policy attempts to walk a tightrope between these two positions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The main feature of the policy is a set of six principles for the treatment of \u201cnew economy\/sharing economy\u201d enterprises. These are:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Light-touch      rules and regulations<\/li>\n<li>Not      compromising Australian wages and working conditions<\/li>\n<li>Payment      of a \u201cfair\u201d share of tax<\/li>\n<li>Public      safety assurance, including insurance and being covered by Australian      consumer law<\/li>\n<li>Disability      access<\/li>\n<li>\u201cPlay      by the rules\u201d with zero tolerance for companies found to be breaking the      law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These are commendable principles bringing some common sense to what sometimes seems to be \u201cdisruption fever\u201d &#8211; driven by the need for short-term results and profits of Silicon Valley startups.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Shorten\u2019s media release also acknowledges that \u201cstriking the right balance between supporting innovation and protecting the Australian community is complex\u201d. And indeed it is. There is a clear gap between producing a list of good principles \u2013 which provides a quick political fix \u2013 and good policy that can be developed and operationalised.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Challenging assumptions<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><br \/><\/b><\/p>\n<p><b> <\/b><\/p>\n<p>For any policy in this area to be effective it needs to grapple with and challenge some underlying assumptions about the \u201csharing economy\u201d and its associated rhetoric.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These assumptions include the following:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If      it is new or utilises technology, it must be good<\/li>\n<li>Regulation      is red tape, aimed at preventing creative people from modernising the      economy (rather than ensuring labour standards or safety)<\/li>\n<li>The      \u201csharing economy\u201d is about sharing resources (and not about creating      global monopolies that evade tax)<\/li>\n<li>It      must be good if consumers are demanding it<\/li>\n<li>And      if consumers are not only demanding it but using it, existing laws should      not apply (laws have a place in the \u201cold economy\u201d).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is no denying that the shared economy comes with considerable potential for job creation, economic development and sustainable use of resources. However, the current discussion does not allow for a nuanced analysis of the very different models that operate under the broad umbrella of the \u201csharing economy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For instance two very successful participants in the sharing economy are Uber and Airbnb. These two businesses have common features. Both are global startups providing a platform that connects users and providers of resources and services, taking a commission on the connections. In both cases there are issues of public safety and tax implications.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is however a key difference between the two models. Airbnb only facilitates the sharing of resources and there is no real labour involved. Also, in most cases, Airbnb has been skirting the edges of regulatory ambiguities, not overtly breaking the law or encouraging users of its platform to do so.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Uber on the other hand is a hybrid of two existing business models. The first one, very similar to Airbnb, aims at capturing the benefits of the shared economy. It constitutes a global startup based on the domination of intermediation. The second model is similar to a category of startups that provide the services of a workforce to clients. This model is much closer to that of the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/recode.net\/2015\/07\/17\/cleaning-services-startup-homejoy-shuts-down-after-battling-worker-classification-lawsuits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">now defunct home-cleaning platform<\/a> \u201cHomejoy\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Uber has consciously flouted local regulations on the basis that because it is doing something new, no existing regulation should be applicable. This has been evident in its insistence that its \u201cpartner-drivers\u201d are not employees and therefore should not receive the benefits of employees. This has posed much more fundamental questions about its role in undermining wages and working conditions.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This threat is not unique to Australia with courts in the United States&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wired.com\/2015\/09\/california-uber-loses-another-round-driver-debate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">finding fault<\/a> with Uber\u2019s claims that its \u201cpartner-drivers\u201d are independent contractors not employees.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So different platform providers clearly pose very different challenges to the community and policy makers. Considering how to operationalise Labor\u2019s list of principles may provide an opportunity to differentiate between them and underline tensions and risks that vary significantly under different models of \u201ceconomic sharing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.edu.au\/content\/49592\/count.gif\" height=\"1\" alt=\"The Conversation\" \/> <\/p>\n<p><span><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/sarah-kaine-19347\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sarah Kaine<\/a>, Associate professor in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-technology-sydney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Technology Sydney<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/emmanuel-josserand-121490\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Emmanuel Josserand<\/a>, Professor of management, <em><a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-technology-sydney\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">University of Technology Sydney<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><em><br \/><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>This article was originally published on <a href=\"http:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Labor Party\u2019s&nbsp;guidelines on the \u201csharing economy\u201d, released last week, are a positive development for those concerned with the unfettered<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38145"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}