The collaborative economy and the cooperative model Jacques Debry
The collaborative economy
The collaborative economy Definition The collaborative economy connects users (individuals or organisations seeking goods or services) with providers (individuals or organisations offering their goods or services). L. Jourdan, M. Leclerc, A. Millerand, Economie collaborative & Droit – Les clés pour comprendre, Editions FYP, 2016, p. 17.
Business models where activities are facilitated by collaborative platforms that create an open marketplace for the temporary usage of goods or services often provided by private individuals. European Commission (EC): A European agenda for the collaborative economy, COM(2016) 356
The collaborative economy Economic mechanisms • • • • • •
Crowdsourcing Two-sided Markets The Long Tail Matching Markets Reputation Markets Network Externalities and Standard Externalities
=> “The winner takes all”
The collaborative economy Business models • • • • •
Advertising Payment per transactions Subscription Internal markets and derivatives Data selling
The collaborative economy in its strictest sense In its strictest sense, the collaborative economy aims to create an alternative economic model with the following features: • Decentralised and not-hierarchical network (peer-to-peer) • Pooled resources (often underutilised) • Tool: online platform • Goal: to reap the benefits of sharing • Sharing leads to collective environmental benefits • Need for retaining control over the project
The collaborative economy in its strictest sense Definition “The term collaborative economy refers to a broad and varied group of practices and innovative models that use digital technologies to facilitate collaboration and exchange among a community of peers, and to maximize the use of underutilised resources. Collaborative economy models enable the aggregation of peer-to-peer exchanges performed among community members, and turn them into systemic processes of value generation driven by the community and benefiting the community.� Cooperatives Europe, A Cooperative Vision for the Collaborative Economy – Shaping a people-centered and democratic collaborative economy, November 2017
The collaborative economy in its strictest sense If a collaborative economy project (in the strictest sense of the term) is to be successful and stay true to its core aims, it must put existing economic mechanisms to good use and adopt a social and solidarity-based business model (i.e. it must reject negative externalities): • Fair pay and working conditions • Consumer protection • Environmental protection
A collaborative economy project (in the strictest sense of the term) is a social and solidarity economy project. It must be governed in a way that aligns with its purpose at all times.
The cooperative model
The cooperative model The cooperative model aims to create an alternative economic model. ICA definition, 1995: • Definition: an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Values: self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Ethical values: honesty, openness, social responsibility and altruism.
• • • Principles: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Voluntary and Open Membership Democratic Member Control Member Economic Participation Autonomy and Independence Education, Training and Information Cooperation among Cooperatives Concern for Community
Similarities between the collaborative economy in the strictest sense and the cooperative model 11
Collaborative economy (strictest sense) • •
Community of peers (peer-topeer) where all parties are equals Relationship of trust with the community; contractual relationships known in law as intuitu personae
Cooperative model ICA definition ICA principles 1 and 2
• • • •
Democratically controlled association of persons Voluntary, open membership intuitu personae Members cannot sell their share to a third party without the other members’ consent Members are free to resign
Collaborative economy (strictest sense) • •
Cooperative model ICA definition ICA principle 3
Purpose: to meet needs by pooling • Members form an enterprise to meet their resources common needs Creation of commons • Collective ownership • Reserves are pooled (indivisible)
Collaborative economy (strictest sense) •
Cooperative model ICA definition
The project operates via an online • The cooperative sets up an enterprise to peer-to-peer platform: the serve its members entrepreneurial tool that the project needs to achieve its aims
Collaborative economy (strictest sense) • •
• Purpose: participants reap the benefits of sharing The aim is not to pay dividends to shareholders • • •
Cooperative model ICA definition ICA principle 3
Service, as opposed to profit, motive (cooperatives serve their members rather than investors) Limited dividends Pooled reserves In some cases, surpluses are allocated to members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative
Collaborative economy (strictest sense) •
Cooperative model ICA definition ICA principle 4
Participants want to retain control • Autonomy and independence are vital to of their project cooperative governance
Collaborative economy (in the strictest sense of the term) •
Cooperative model ICA principle 7
Participants pool resources, rather • Concern for community includes concern than producing and purchasing for the environment and sustainable new goods, in order to protect the development environment
Differences between the collaborative economy (strictest sense) and the cooperative model
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• o o o o o o o
Collaborative economy (strictest sense)
Cooperative model
Linkages between members and the community Community of “prosumers”, “multistakeholder” model Ongoing trust-building Informal identity Informal involvement in governance Online-only relationships Typically global purpose Growth is incremental but can become exponential
• Linkages between members and the community Community of like-minded members o Trust from the outset through the act of o membership Shared, documented values o Structured involvement in governance o Face-to-face contact o Typically local purpose o Gradual expansion o
Collaborative economy (strictest sense) • o o o • o o
Collaboration methods Decentralised, dispersed collaboration Sporadic connections as needs arise, ad hoc relationships No structured, stable working relationships Role of technological innovation It connects participants and allows for quick, decentralised actions Digital technology at the heart of the business model, constant innovation
Cooperative model • Collaboration methods Centralised collaboration within the enterprise o Structured connections between members in o the same enterprise Stable, legally structured working relationships o Role of technological innovation • Technological innovation is just one part of the o business model Technological innovation is deployed gradually o
Conclusions
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What the collaborative economy can learn from the cooperative model
Collaborative economy projects can use the cooperative model to maintain an entrepreneurial culture that combines the values of performance and solidarity. Thanks to its governance model and self-regulating properties, the cooperative model can solve many of the problems encountered in the collaborative economy. In reality, the cooperative model can provide the structure – documented values and governance principles, and markers and codes of conduct – without which collaborative economy projects often fail.
What the cooperative movement can learn from the collaborative economy
The collaborative economy is an opportunity for the cooperative movement to expand into every sector of the economy – something it must do as a matter of urgency since forprofit collaborative economy companies have gained a stronghold, or even a monopoly, in some sectors. The cooperative movement can look to the collaborative economy for regeneration – breaking down barriers, adopting the “multistakeholder” model, gaining flexibility and agility, horizontal vs. vertical structure, technological innovation and digital technologies, etc.
NEXT STEPS Initiatives needed at several levels: Run combined collaborative/cooperative projects Communicate about the similarities between the collaborative economy and the cooperative model in a meaningful way Build technical expertise to assist cooperative platform projects Set up financial structures to support these projects
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