Consumers co-production in the sharing economy: an integrated choice and latent variable model

Abstract

This project will develop empirical consumer behavior models, in the domain of the sharing economy, and will test its propositions through econometric models. The project is inspired by the theoretical framework proposed by Dellaert (2019), and the empirical application will integrate real individual market behavior and attitudinal data. Sharing economy is a booming market phenomenon, in which consumers (providers) allocate their assets and/or time to create value to other consumers (users). Financial compensation may, or may not, be involved. This research aims to understand how and why consumers insert themselves in specific regions of the co-production networks prosed by Dellaert. Consumer behavior is expected to vary as a function of the platforms characteristics (attributes), the time allocation requirements, and the (eventual) financial compensations. Moreover, individuals' characteristics and attitudes are expected to influence behavior, as well as the category of the sharing economy. The period as visiting researcher supervised by Prof. Dellaert will be valuable to refine the research design, including the definition of the target, the development of data collection instruments and econometric models. I will also participate in academic activities at the Erasmus University Rotterdam to keep the project positioned at the frontier of the knowledge in the specific domain. (AU)