Deck 10: The Sharing Economy, Collaborative Consumption, and Creating More Efficient Markets Through Technology

Question 1

Crowdsourcing has a number of benefits, but problems include the potential for bias and discrimination. How can crowdsourced ratings also reflect the crowd's bias and reinforce discrimination.

Answer 1

Allegations in an Uber driver forum suggest that college students rate older drivers lower; male riders give lower ratings to female drivers who don't respond to their flirtatiousness; drivers with disabilities also experience lower ratings; and black drivers have a lower acceptance rate than whites. A working paper published by Harvard researchers reports bias in Airbnb, claiming that after controlling for factors like location, rental characteristics, and quality, non-black Airbnb hosts in New York City were still able to charge 12 percent more than their black counterparts, and black hosts received a larger penalty for having a poor location when compared to comparable non-black hosts.

Question 2

_______ mayor has voiced support for Uber, seeing it as a safe and popular service among citizens and city visitors.

Answer 2

Boston's

Question 3

Which of the following is *not* true regarding the competitive dynamics of most sharing economy marketplaces?

A) Ratings represent a switching cost built over time by early participants in sharing economy marketplaces.
B) Late-movers have a substantial advantage in this market since inventory should be cheaper to acquire for those firms that have entered markets more recently.
C) Network effects should grow over time, favoring firms that got a successful, early start over rivals who arrived late doing the same thing.
D) These are two-sided markets.
E) None of the above - all statements are true.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

If eBay and Craigslist are included, some 44 percent of the US and Canadian population have participated in the sharing economy.

Question 5

What is the difference between collaborative consumption firms Zilok and Chegg.

A) Zilok has gone public, Chegg hasn't.
B) Zilok is a service where a person comes to your home to complete a task, Chegg is a rental firm.
C) Zilok provides inventory provided by participating 'citizen suppliers', Chegg owns its own inventory.
D) Zilok is the European equivalent of Chegg.
E) Zilok was purchased by Chegg underscoring the 'winner take all' dynamics of these markets.

Question 6

Rent the Runway and Chegg have chosen to purchase their own inventory for rental to customers, rather than relying on inventory provided by participating citizens suppliers. This incurs an additional cost on these firms. Why would they opt to use this model if startup costs are going to be more expensive?

Question 7

Prof. Juliet Schor says that businesses considered to be part of the _________________ can involve the recirculation of goods, increased utilization of durable assets, exchange of services, or the sharing of productive assets

Question 8

Why are sharing economy marketplaces so attractive to consumers?

Question 9

General Motors backed Lyft with more than half a billion dollars.

Question 10

The sharing economy standouts differ from earlier efforts in that their efficiency is enhanced through streamlined coordination and broader reach by leveraging the ________________.

Question 11

Citizen suppliers in the sharing economy may find their _______ costs increase due to increased product use and an increase in perceived risk over time.

Question 12

Another major concern for firms in the sharing economy is uncertainty around the ability of these firms to continue to consider their workers as ____________ and not employees.
a. investors
b. critics
c. independent contractors
d. liabilities
e. none of the above

Question 13

Given examples of firms in the sharing economy that focus on the following categories: goods, transportation, and capital provision. List markets challenged in each of these areas.

Question 14

Firms in the so-called "sharing economy" fuel more efficient matching of ___________ and __________, lower costs, enable more efficient resource use, and provide a level of reach and services heretofore unavailable

Question 15

Firms classified as being part of the sharing economy and collaborative consumption are still considered too risky to attract substantial venture capital investment.

Question 16

What are some concerns regulators have over the sharing economy using independent contractors and not full time employees?

Question 17

Payment continues to represent a barrier to widespread adoption of the sharing economy, since many consumers feel uncomfortable exchanging cash or financial information with strangers.

Question 18

Highly _______ markets are especially ripe for rollup in electronic marketplaces

Question 19

Social media profiles can also be used to fight online fraud.

Question 20

Uber prices services according to demand. This allows the company to increase rates during peak periods in order to attract more potential suppliers into the market to meet demand.

Question 21

While unions and hotel chains might not like Airbnb and feel threatened by its offerings, Airbnb is legal in nearly every market worldwide since private citizens are fully empowered to rent property that they own.

Question 22

How does Uber ensure high driver quality?

Question 23

In what ways is Uber superior to conventional cab service, both for drivers and for customers?

Question 24

Uber claims the firm's growth is minting over 500 new jobs a month.

Question 25

An Uber-commissioned study claims the firm's impact on the US economy tops $____________ a year.

A) 28 million
B) 280 million
C) 2.8 billion
D) 28 billion
E) none of the above

Question 26

While some fear Airbnb is taking jobs away from hotel chains, the firm is also creating jobs and driving demand for a whole array of platform-enhancing services, including photographers, key-exchange coordinators, in-home chefs, house cleaners, and ride-sharing services.

Question 27

Airbnb reports that of the 6 million guests who stayed with the firm in 2013, only____host claims (complaints) were made

Question 28

Why were fashion firms initially threatened by Rent the Runway and why has their position evolved over time?

Question 29

Uber's CEO views itself as software platform for shipping and logistics.

Question 30

By mid 2016, ClassPass, the leader in providing fitness classes, was generating $_ million in revenue and was valued at $___ million.

Question 31

Airbnb's technology does not allow the firm to monitor to see if hosts are trying to arrange a stay and payment outside of the system.

Question 32

General Motors/OnStar successfully partnered with car-sharing service RelayRides (now called Turo).

Question 33

Which of the following is *not* an example of larger, conventional firms working with sharing economy startups?

A) Apple's purchase of Beats to give new musical artists more exposure.
B) Condé Nast's investment in Rent the Runway.
C) Google's investment in Uber.
D) Walgreens' partnership with TaskRabbit.
E) W Hotel partnering with Desks Near Me.

Question 34

Surge pricing allows Uber to increase the supply of drivers when demand is high.

Question 35

_________has invested $300 million in ride-sharing firm Gett

Question 36

___________ refers to the technology used to integrate Uber with other services, including OpenTable, GoogleMaps, and Spotify.

Question 37

GM has invested half a billion dollars in Uber-competitor ______.

Question 38

Entrepreneurs are scrappy in their quest to gather market intelligence and understand how customers respond to their offerings. How did Airbnb's CEO gather additional intelligence on how the firm was being used?

A) He bought several apartments to rent out under Airbnb
B) He became an Uber driver
C) He lived out of Airbnb rentals full-time
D) He became a bell hop at a San Francisco Hilton Hotel
E) All of the above

Question 39

How does Airbnb improve customer and renter trust while reducing risks that its platform will be used for illegal purposes?

Question 40

Which of the following statements is true about Airbnb's revenue model?

A) Airbnb currently does not make money via transactions, only from advertising listings on its website.
B) Airbnb only charges property owners who rent on the website.
C) Airbnb only charges guests who rent on the website.
D) Airbnb charges both property owners and guests as part of transactions on their website.
E) Airbnb doesn't charge transactions for the three years after it enters a market, so as to generate two-sided network effects of property rents and guests searching for properties to stay in.

Question 41

Describe how Uber is a "big data" firm and how data gives the firm advantages over traditional and new rivals.