Blockchain and Smart Contracts as New Governance Tools for the Sharing Economy

Abstract

The last financial downturn has imposed severe changes on the labour market leading to the disappearance of a number of traditional jobs and social securities. Among the diverse effects induced by those recent modifications to the socio-economic fabric, we have seen the emergence of the sharing economy. The sharing economy can be defined as an economic system where entities can share services and goods, for a fee or a payment via shared platforms or peer-to-peer networks (P2P). The idea behind the rise of the sharing economy is related to sustainability and social justice, and the promotion of the democratisation of goods and resources.