It is often claimed that the “sharing economy,” as implemented via networks of mobile apps and users, yields environmental benefits through the efficient redistribution of already-existing assets and resources. This assumption however, lacks empirical evidence. In fact, several have questioned the social and environmental desirability of sharing platforms arguing that they can be environmentally and socially detrimental. To address this research gap, we are currently analyzing ~2 years’ worth of data for over 600,000 users of a food sharing smartphone app across 12 cities. See presentation below:
Evolution of sharing network over time
Evolution of the food sharing network between 04/2017 - 09/2018. Each dot represents an individual users on the platform (size is proportional to the overall number of exchanges the user has made via the platform). Color scale goes from Blue- Net giver, to Red- Net taker.
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